


Subject 24

by marvelxpendragon



Category: Daredevil (TV), Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Defenders (Marvel TV), The Maze Runner (Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Awesome Minho (Maze Runner), BAMF Matt Murdock, BAMF Michelle Jones, BAMF Newt (Maze Runner), BAMF Peter Parker, Bully Gally (Maze Runner), F/M, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Precious Ned Leeds, Protective Tony Stark, Sassy Minho (Maze Runner), Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:47:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 98,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27439081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marvelxpendragon/pseuds/marvelxpendragon
Summary: When a worldwide fatal disease was on the verge of tearing through the people of New York, two men had decided to start an organization that would help find a cure. Tempted by the idea of making the world a better place and eager to help his aunt keep their place, Peter Parker agreed to work at WCKD. There, he met Tony Stark, which turned out to be one of the sincerest blessings in Peter’s life. Yet, meeting him under the roof of that organization was the farthest from a blessing.Quickly, he discovers that they were not as noble in saving the world as he had initially thought. With a new set of allies thrust into his path—one that involved a man in a mask, a legend bearer, the bravest of girls, Peter soon works his way into the role of the savior he had always been destined to become.
Relationships: Matt Murdock & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Minho & Newt (Maze Runner), Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 21
Kudos: 56





	1. Chapter 1

“Are you telling me that there is nothing that can be done?”

He sighed, looking down, before repeating the same sentence he has been repeating for the past half hour. They couldn’t get it through their messed-up brains.

“I’m not saying that there is nothing that can be done, I’m saying that, there is _nothing_ that _I_ can do _for you._ ”

They were both getting impatient, and it wouldn’t be long before he received another blow to the head with the base of the sniper that was pointed at the back of his head.

“You’re telling me that you, the great Tony Stark, cannot come up with a cure for this shit?” The guy in front of him mocked.

He was short, but masculine. His hair was dark and messy, sweat covering his fair skin. His features held an angry expression, eyes looking down at him in disgust. He had a long scar across the right side of his face, one of his eyes affected by it. Black and red veins were peeking from under the collar of his shirt, expanding on the side of his neck. He was infected. Tony could tell by the sudden mood shifts the guy experienced, that he wasn’t that far from turning into a wild animal.

“Alright, listen Scarface, this is the last time I’m telling you this,” He took a deep breath, preparing himself for whatever would come at him after saying his next words.

He has been doing a really good job at pissing them off, but they have been doing a better job paying him back for his big mouth. They had him down on his knees, hands tied behind his back, surrounded by armed men as they talked. They were in a cave, somewhere he has never seen before. He wasn’t even sure if they were still in New York.

“What you want, is nearly impossible—”

“Bullshit!” The guy spat, hitting him with the pistol in his hand, dangerously close to one of Tony’s eyes.

“Jesus,” He breathed, feeling a trail of blood rolling down from his left eyebrow.

“Beating me up won’t get you anywhere.” He shook his head.

“I know.” The scarred-face guy shrugged, “I’m doing it for my own pleasure.”

_Of course._

“Listen, Stark, I’m giving you one more chance.” He motioned for the men behind him to lower their weapons, before he clicked the gun in his hand.

“You have to get this through that stupid-thick skull of yours. _There is no cure._ I can’t just simply create a juice, you all drink it, and poof! No one’s sick anymore. It doesn’t work this way. It would take _years_ , and technology that you will never be able to get.” He was panting by the time he was done talking, his head throbbing in pain.

His wrists were stinging, the ropes they tied his hands with, digging into his skin. He was starting to feel lightheaded, after being hit too many times on the head, and arguing with the half-Crank in front of him was wearing him out.

“And what makes you think I can’t get the technology you need?” He was now pointing his gun at Tony’s forehead.

Tony laughed, “This virus did get the good part of your brain, didn’t it? Have you _listened_ to any of the words I’ve just told you?!” He shouted.

“You could keep talking like that, and I’ll keep beating you, until you actually become useful.”

“I have already told you everything, _it cannot be done._ I honestly can’t argue with you anymore.” He sighed, briefly closing his eyes out of exhaustion.

“Get him out of my sight before I kill him.” He snapped, motioning for one of the men behind Tony, to take him away. “I’m not done with you, yet.” He pointed at him, shoving his revolver back into his pocket.

“Can’t wait.” Tony rolled his eyes at him, receiving yet another hit to his back, before a black cloth was placed over his face.

“Yeah, alright, I did earn this one.” He muttered to himself.

They weren’t really threatening, the ones who held him captive. They were more desperate than dangerous; he could see how helpless they felt. But they were also stupid to kidnap him, and beat him up, thinking they would get what they hoped for. He knew the moment he was taken, that people would be looking for him, but it has been five days, and he hasn’t been found yet. He figured it was a pretty tricky spot, where they had him. He was watched twenty-four hours; he barely had the privilege of privacy.

The dizziness he felt was doubled when he was forced to his feet, the darkness not helping at all. He was held by two men on either side of him, each arm held by one of them. He figured they were walking him back to his cell, when suddenly, he heard yelling coming from where he was a few minutes ago, followed by the sound of gunshots. The grip on his arms loosened, and he heard them run away.

“Hey!” He yelled, fear creeping up inside him.

No one answered him, and the black cloth over his head was driving him crazy. He tried to untie his hands, but they only hurt more. He scooted down, trying to stay covered, to avoid getting shot. He heard men screaming, falling down, and he even heard Scarface shouting out commands. He wanted to see what was happening. Were they under attack? Who was attacking them? Has someone finally found him? His questions were answered when the shooting stopped. He stayed silent, not daring to speak up, in case he was in danger. He heard shuffling, the sound of footsteps coming closer.

What was blocking his vision was removed, revealing his blood-stained face. Tony looked up, and found four-five men standing in front of him. They were all dressed like each other, full black uniforms. They looked like some sort of army soldiers, judging from the bullet-proof vests they were wearing over their clothes. He peeked through their legs from where he was on the ground, and spotted the men who were beating him up earlier, all lying dead.

He looked back up at the soldiers, with a questionable expression on his face. One of them knelt down, with a knife in his hand, and Tony’s eyes widened in fear, before he processed what the man was doing. He reached behind his back, cutting the rope that was tying Tony’s hands together. He helped him up to his feet.

“Thank you.” He muttered.

“Mr. Stark,” One of them addressed Tony. “We would like you to come with us.”

“First of all, thank you,” He gestured towards his uncovered head, and the cord that was on the ground, now. “Second, you just killed everyone in here, and then asked me to come with you, so you must have a pretty convincing reason.”

“Mr. Stark, we are five armed men, and you are alone _and_ injured.” 

“Okay, that does sound convincing.” He stumbled back, briefly losing balance.

“You are in need of medical care.” Another one ushered.

Tony shook his head, making things worse for himself. His head felt heavier than ever. “I’m alright.” He waved him off, but he wasn’t alright like he was saying. His vision kept blurring, the longer he tried to focus.

“Get him to the helicopter, and let’s go.”

That was the last thing he heard, before everything went black.

His eyes fluttered open, exhaustion and confusion taking over him. He was feeling cold, that’s why he woke up. It took him a few seconds before he looked around, taking in his surroundings. He was lying in a bed, half of his body covered with white covers. He spotted no windows in the dimly lit room, but the air around him was chill. He looked down at his hands, and found his wrists wrapped with clean gauze. He looked around him, sitting up. The last thing he remembered was Scarface guy, and his men dead, and some kind of gang showing up. Was this some kind of a hospital? How long has he been asleep? Where was he? A knock on the door startled him, before the door opened slowly, revealing the person behind it. A bald man walked over to him, with a small smile on his face. A black suit covering his stout figure.

“It’s good to see that you’re awake.” The man smiled, folding his hands together.

“Excuse me, who are you?” Tony furrowed his brows, looking up at the man standing next to his bed.

“That doesn’t matter. What matters now is the health of your well-being.” He pulled a chair from the corner of the room and sat down.

“I guess you already know who I am.” Tony shrugged, remembering the people who showed up back there, asking him to go with them.

“We wouldn’t have asked our men to save you personally, if we didn’t know who you are.”

“Your men?” Tony raised his eyebrows.

“Mr. Stark, I would like to introduce you to the best place you will ever step foot in.” The man stood up.

“Alright, stop with the riddle talk. Seriously, what is this ‘best place’?”

“Come with me, if you would like?” The bald man walked over to the door and waited for Tony.

He pulled the sheets off of him and got off the bed, no longer feeling tired. If compared to earlier, he was feeling better than ever. He followed the stranger out of the room, and walked beside him, looking around. He gave him a brief tour of the floor they were at, telling him which lab was for what. The place was huge with so many offices and workers. What left Tony amazed was that this very floor they were roaming, was like a totally different place. It was like they were on another planet. The walls were all white, lined with random silver patterns. The whole place was brightly lit with fluorescent lights, the tiles a dark shade of grey. There was a massive glass wall at the back of the end of the hallway, allowing a view of the outer world. A world that Tony has never seen before.

“Excuse me, is this some kind of fantasy land? Because there is no way this place exists in the same Earth we're living in.”

“This place is the future, Mr. Stark, and you have an option to be part of shaping it.”

“Me? What could you possibly want from me, and how did you even find me?”

“Our people are everywhere.”

“Again, with your people,” Tony shook his head.

He hated this type of talk. He liked things clear and laid out in front of him. Tony was a straightforward person, it didn’t always do him good, but it was way better than talking in riddles like this guy was doing. He still doesn’t know what he was doing there, how they found him, and what they wanted from him.

“I heard that you’re a man of science, Mr. Stark.” They walked towards the glass wall, and stopped a few inches away from it.

“More technical stuff, but, of course.” Tony crossed his arms over his chest.

“And why is it that you were kidnapped by those awful creatures?”

“Awful creatures? Those people were sick, and they needed help.” He didn’t like the way he addressed the infected group that took him.

“What kind of help comes from kidnapping an innocent man and beating him up?” He briefly glanced at him.

“Well, you do have a point.” Tony shrugged. “They uh, they thought I could make them a cure.”

“And can you?” He turned, facing Tony whose gaze was fixed on the unbelievably huge buildings out there. What is this place?

“It’s not—It’s complicated.” He huffed.

“Mr. Stark, let me escort you to the heart of this building.” He smiled, walking ahead of him.

Tony followed him to an elevator. They walked in, and he watched as the man pushed the button to the twenty-third floor. _Twenty third? How tall is this building?_ The questions never stopped in his mind. Nevertheless, he decided to play by the rules of the man next to him, and see where it would bring him. The elevator came to a halt, seconds later, a robotic voice saying that they have reached their destination.

“This is our Advanced Science and Technology department.” He announced, making way for Tony to walk freely.

“Yeah, no shit.” Tony breathed, staring agape at what surrounded him.

The interior design was similar to the floor they have just left, but this place was way more mind-blowing than the one he has seen. Like, sure, everything he has seen until now, was surprising, but this? This was like someone had looked into his plans, and made them come true. The place was like a huge science lab, tables and offices lining it up. Transparent boards were found everywhere, calculations scribbled over them in white hand-writing. Young men filled the room, wearing lab coats, working in everything. Some were behind computer screens, some writing down notes, some testing liquids in test tubes, it almost looked like a scene from a movie.

“What do you think?” The guy’s voice startled him.

“It looks like you have everything you need.”

“That is not true.”

“You must be kidding.” Tony chuckled, but his grin fell when he saw that the stranger’s expression didn’t match his. “Oh, you’re serious.”

“We need your experience, and your skills in dealing with technology.”

“This lab is filled with hundreds of brilliant young men who look like they know very well what they’re doing. What could I possibly add?” He frowned.

“Those young men have been working for years, running tests, and collecting data, waiting for you.”

Tony couldn’t have felt more confused. This place looked like it was being well run. What did they want from him? And what did he mean ‘waiting for him’? Have they been watching him?

“And what exactly is it that they were running tests and collecting data for?”

“Our main concern since the beginning has been, finding a cure for the Flare.”

“And you think I can help you with this.” Tony voiced. 

“Glad we’re on the same page.” He said, staring at the people working around them.

“What makes you think I would be willing to help?”

“Mr. Stark, our men found you, provided you with health and medical care. We are ready to provide you with everything that might be of help for you. I personally think that this is a great opportunity.” He spoke, sounding reasonable.

Tony thought about it; what the man was saying made sense, and he was already here with him. He had no idea how he would get out of this place, if he refused to help them. This place had everything he could have ever dreamed of. He could have a proper workshop with everything he needed. The technology they used was far more advanced than what he had back home. It still needed some improvements, but it was more than great. He had no idea how they would develop a cure, but he certainly knew what the right steps were. He has been studying this disease for years.

“You do realize that it is going to take years, though, right?” Tony asked. 

“We are more than ready.” He assured him.

Tony sighed to himself, thinking his next words over and over, before he finally made up his mind. “Alright, then, I guess you have me on-board.”

“Welcome, Mr. Stark.” He extended his hand out for Tony to shake, but he didn’t immediately return the gesture.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Tony raised his eyebrows.

“I’m sorry?” The man seemed confused.

“If I’m going to work here with you, then at least I could know who you are.” He remarked.

“Oh, pardon me. I haven’t introduced myself properly.” He smiled. 

“My name is Wilson Fisk. Co-founder of WCKD.”


	2. Chapter 2

“And by that, you mean ‘wicked’? Is this what it’s all about?” Tony couldn’t help but ask as soon as he heard the name escape Fisk’s lips, trying his best not to laugh.

“You have a great sense of humor, Mr. Stark, but I’m afraid that, no, that is not what it means.”

“Oh, please, drop the ‘Mr. Stark’ already, it creeps me out.” Tony shook his head.

“World in Catastrophe Killzone Department.”

“That is a high level of complexity.” He raised his eyebrows.

“It stands for what is done here.” Fisk folded his hand behind his back, walking around the area with Tony catching up with him.

“So, I assume you’re the boss here?” He asked, after knowing that he’s the co-founder.

“My friend and I built this place from scratch.” 

“Your friend?”

“Yes, co-founders as I mentioned.”

“So, why isn’t he here today, with you?” He wondered.

“Don’t worry, you will be meeting him soon.” They stopped by the elevator; two men dressed in gray suits approaching them.

“These gentlemen will escort you to where you will be staying. They will be picking you up at nine in the morning for our meeting. Have a good night, Stark.” The man excused himself.

“Yeah, goodnight.” Tony replied, eyeing the two guys in front of him.

Those people were not kidding, were they? They wanted to hold a meeting tomorrow at nine in the morning? He certainly didn’t mind working, specially that he would be working at such a place like this, and so far, they have been treating him so well. It was like he was their number one priority at the moment. What if he was? What if he really became their only hope for creating a cure? But no, he saw how well they were doing on their own. He sure knew his way around some technology, but that does not prove anything. He had to prove to them that he was capable of fulfilling the job they want from him.

Fisk was gone now, leaving Tony with the two strangers.

“This way, sir.” One of them gestured, referring to the elevator. 

“Yeah.” Tony nodded, following one of them, the other behind him.

He was taken to the thirty-fourth floor. Tony assumed that the whole building looked the same from the inside, except for the furniture. This floor was like a long hallway, doors found on both his sides. He figured this was where some of the workers stayed as well. But if they stayed here, then what were all those buildings he saw earlier for? His mind was jumbled up, so many thoughts and information racing in it.

“This is as far as we’re allowed to go, sir.” One of them said to Tony, as they reached the door to a room with the number 221 on it.

“Wait- there’s no key?”

“The room opens with your handprint, sir.” Tony glanced beside the door, and found a rectangular hand-sized screen, waiting for him.

“That makes sense.” He nodded, mentally slapping himself for not figuring this out on his own. 

“See you in the morning, Mr. Stark.” They both said in one breath, creeping him out.

“Some people have a formality obsession, here.” He muttered to himself, after they excused themselves.

He placed his right hand on the little screen in front of him, a scanner activating at his touch. He watched as the blue horizontal line moved up and down, scanning his prints, until it stopped. The door clicked, and Tony opened it, walking into the suite room. Tony was astonished at what he saw. The room was fully furnished, a living room, kitchen, two bedrooms; it was like a whole apartment. The living room consisted of one couch, three arm chairs, and a coffee table in the middle. A long window that extended from the ceiling and down to his hips was half covered with a curtain. He walked into the bedroom, turning on the lights. A huge bed was in the middle of the room, two night-stands on either side of it. A closet was found in the far-left corner of the room, on the other side a dresser with everything on it, from cologne to a hairbrush.

Tony walked over to the full-length mirror, taking a glance at his features. His face looked tired, dark circles seen under his eyes. His left eyebrow was stitched and patched up. His hair needed to be trimmed, as well as his beard. He hasn’t showered in five days, and he so much needed it right now. He checked the closet in his room for clothes, and picked out a comfortable pair of pants and a t-shirt. He found his way to the bathroom; leaving his dirty clothes behind, he got into the shower, letting the water wash away his endless thoughts. After he was done with the bathroom, he went straight to bed, not even curious to see what his fridge contained. He just wanted to get some sleep, and hopefully understand more about this place.

He wondered how tomorrow would go, what he and Fisk would talk about, and whether he was going to meet his other friend then. He fell asleep rather quickly, the events of today taking their toll on him.

The next day, he was awoken by constant knocking on the door. His eyes snapped open, and he started looking around in confusion, until he remembered what happened last night. He glanced at the clock on the night- stand to his right, and it read 9:20.

“Shit.” He cursed as he rushed out of bed, and towards the door.

He opened it, revealing one of the men who showed him the way here. Has he been knocking on the door for twenty minutes straight?

“Mr. Stark—”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry, just give me a few more minutes, and I will be ready.” He held his hands up in front of him, assuring the man that he wouldn’t take long.

“I will be waiting for you, sir.” The guy nodded and backed away from the door.

Tony literally ran around his room, picking up the first thing that his hand laid on, which was a grayish-black sweatshirt, and a pair of black jeans. He strapped on a pair of shoes before heading to the bathroom to wash up. A few minutes later, just like he promised, he was already out and walking side to side with his guide. They walked to one of the many elevators that were in the building. This elevator did not have any buttons, it had a small screen at the very top of one of its glass walls. Tony watched as the man said the floor number they were heading to, which was the seventy-fourth. He wasn’t surprised, with how big the area was, he assumed this building was at least a hundred stories. The guy walked him to a room with two huge closed doors. He gestured for Tony to enter, letting him know that he couldn’t be in there.

Tony nervously pushed the door open, letting himself in. The room was brightly lit, all windows blacked out, blocking the natural sunlight. There was a table in the middle of the room that almost took up the whole space, surrounded by black office chairs. He spotted Fisk at the head of the table, his back to him. Tony cleared his throat, trying to make sure that he heard him when he entered. He couldn’t help but feel embarrassed for showing up late for their first ever meeting.

“I hope I’m not troubling you, Tony.” He said, turning around in his chair, facing Tony who stood awkwardly next to the first chair closest to Fisk.

“No, not at all.” Tony shook his head. He didn’t understand how he could be troubling him, when he was the one who was late.

“Please, take a seat.” Fisk approached the table, resting his arms in front of him.

Tony pulled one of the wheeled office chairs, sitting down. “So, when do we start?”

“Well, you aren’t the only person who overslept today.” Fisk smiled. 

“I’m afraid I lost you, here.” Tony frowned, forcing a smile afterwards.

“We are waiting for my friend; the one I told you about, earlier.”

“Oh, alright then.” He nodded, remembering once again that Fisk mentioned that he was co-founder of W.C.K.D. He didn’t know that ‘soon’ would be today, though. And in his defense, he did not oversleep, he just forgot to set an alarm, which was a worse excuse, so he decided to stay silent.

A few seconds later, the door opened, an old man entering the meeting room. “Good morning, gentlemen.” He greeted warmly, a smile shaping his old features.

He looked a bit older than Fisk, his white beard serving his aging look. He was dressed in a less formal suit than the one Fisk was wearing. It was beige, with a light blue shirt underneath. He had a coffee carrier in his hand which held three cups.

“You have no idea how these places are crowded at this time of the day.” He sighed sitting down, taking one of the cups for himself.

“Oh, tell me about it.” Tony agreed.

“That was unnecessary, you know we have far more important things to do than stand in line waiting for a cup of coffee.” Fisk protested.

“Oh, I’m sorry for trying to break the ice, here.” The man rolled his eyes at Fisk, flashing Tony a smile.

He reached out to Tony from across the table, Tony shaking his hand back. “I’m Obadiah Stane, it’s nice to finally meet you, Tony.”

“Likewise, Mr. Stane.”

“Oh, please, you can call me Obie. I hate formalities, unlike my friend here.” He pointed at Fisk, whose lips haven’t even twitched since his partner showed up.

“Thanks for the coffee then, Obie.” Tony replied, taking one of the warm paper cups in his hand.

“You’re most welcome. I assume you haven’t had one in a long time.” He raised his own cup to his lips.

“You have no idea.” Tony shook his head, taking a sip from his favorite caffeinated drink.

If there was one thing that Tony couldn’t live without, it would be coffee. It was the only thing that would help him survive the long nights he spent awake, trying to study the virus. He also liked the fact that one his bosses brought him a cup of coffee on their first meeting, also, ditching something important, waiting in line for a cup of coffee did sound like something Tony would do. He liked Obadiah; he was much more open than Fisk. Despite of the fact that they haven’t even talked yet, but Obie did leave a good first impression.

“I hate to interrupt this endearing moment, but I’m afraid we do not have much time.” Fisk blurted out.

Both Tony, and Obie glanced at each other in silence, before Obie spoke up. “Alright, he has a point. What have you got for us, Tony?”

“What have  _ I _ got?” Tony raised his eyebrows, looking back and forth between the two men.

“Well, those people who took you didn’t think you could make them a cure from nothing, right? What made them think that  _ you _ could do it?” Fisk asked, calmly.

“I have been studying the Flare since it started consuming every part of the world.” Tony started, his line of thoughts rearranging itself.

“We have been doing the same thing.” Obie replied.

“Oh, trust me, you did a great job at proving that to me.” Tony chuckled, remembering how the Advanced Science and Technology department looked like.

“This virus is manmade; it targets the brain, eating it away, until the person is no longer sane. Those who are infected and have reached the final stage normally die after three days of becoming a full Crank, as the rest of the organs start to fail, and the body eventually gives up.” He explained.

“Jesus,” Obie breathed. “Not that I don’t know about all of this, but I don’t get why would anyone purposely create something as horrible.” He grimaced.

“How long does it take for the Flare to lead its victim to death?”

“That’s the tricky part here.” Tony clicked his tongue.

“What do you mean?” Obie asked.

“Every time I tried to study how long it took for the virus to spread in the body of different patients, the duration differed.” Tony said.

“Well, are the differences drastic?” Fisk curiously asked.

“Yes.”

“Tell us more.” Obie leaned forward in his seat.

“Younger people are more likely to resist the disease than older ones, although children under nine years old could die almost a day later, after getting infected.”

“What was the age range you studied under ‘younger people’, Mr. Stark?” Fisk asked.

“From fourteen years old, up to twenty-five.” He squinted his eyes, trying to remember.

“And there were still differences.” Obadiah arched his eyebrows.

“Pretty much, yes.” Tony leaned back in his chair.

“Do we have any idea how to approach studying these variations?”

“I tried to, but the thing is,” Tony took a deep breath, trying to organize his words. “This disease first infects the brain. The amount of time it takes to fully destroy one, is what makes the difference.” 

“You’re saying that it depends on the person?” Fisk asked.

“Exactly.” Tony pointed at him. “It targets the parts responsible for memory and cognitive responses, therefore, the person loses control of how they behave, because they can’t think properly.”

Obie and Fisk looked deep in thought, brows knit together. A few moments passed in silence, before Fisk asked a question.

“If this virus targets the cognition and memory parts in the brain, affecting the patients’ behavior, this means that these behaviors could be monitored, right?” 

“That’s one way to put it.” Tony replied, nodding.

“But, how would that be of use if we want to find a cure?” Obie asked, confusion latched onto his voice.

“That’s of great use, actually.” Tony zoned out for a second, thinking about what Fisk asked.

“Wilson said that behaviors could be monitored. We could monitor behaviors of those who haven’t been infected yet. Is that what you mean?” Obadiah asked, his eyes sparkling with hope.

“You’re starting to get on the same page, Obie.” Tony clapped his hands together, excitement stirring inside him.

“We could monitor them according to certain standards for every mind process, such as thinking, and remembering.” He continued.

“And the ones who reach those standards are the ones who are likely to resist the disease.” Fisk added.

“Yes, but in order to do that, they have to be exposed to different circumstances, they can’t just give you everything you want in two days.” Tony answered.

“Understood.” Fisk nodded.

“Like, tests?” Obadiah asked.

“Yeah, but on a higher level.” He stared down at the plain black table he was resting his hands on.

“It’s like doing an experiment.” Fisk said.

“Sort of. But what kind of experiment would that be?” Tony frowned.

What Fisk mentioned was really smart. Out of all the possibilities that crossed Tony’s mind, this one didn’t occur to him. If they wanted to test performances of certain people, they would have to put those people under various circumstances, tough ones. They would have to experience danger, fear, loneliness, love, and anything that evoked excessive emotions followed by reactions. They would have to experience these emotions in groups, and each one of them on their own.

“Think of it as a science experiment like I said, Mr. Stark.” Fisk stood up, straightening his suit jacket.

Tony had an image in his head, but he couldn’t quite grasp it. It was a blur, but he knew he could get to it.

“I know you will get to it right in time, just concentrate.” Fisk encouraged.

“Give him a break.” Obie voiced.

“I know what I’m doing, Obadiah.” Fisk eyed him.

The talking wasn’t doing Tony any good, but despite that, he kept thinking, digging into every experiment he has studied before. An experiment that would put its subject through hell and back, until it finds a way of surviving.

“It’s one of the oldest tricks; basic science, Stark.” He pushed. 

“Shit.” Tony muttered after long moments of silence.

“There he goes!” Obadiah cheered, Fisk glancing at him in pride, knowing he had a hand in helping Tony figure it out.

“Do we have a plan, Mr. Stark?” Fisk inquired.

“I guess we do.” Tony shrugged, a giddy smile on his face.

“Flatter me.” Obadiah smiled.

“When you want the mouse to reach the cheese the hard way, what do you do Obie?” Tony smirked.

“Holy shit.” Obadiah’s lips parted in disbelief. 

“Would you like to elaborate?” Fisk challenged.

“When someone is confused, or wants to reach something so desperately, and they’re left with only one path that they are forced to choose, they endure that path, until they reach what they want.” Tony stated.

“And that path would be?” Fisk asked, his eyes glimmering with delight. 

“A maze.” Tony confirmed.


	3. Chapter 3

“I admit it, you’re one hell of a genius, Tony.” Obadiah shook his head, at a loss of words. “A maze?”

“We have made the right decision bringing you here in the first place.” Fisk added. “I’m looking forward to seeing your work.”

“And, thank you for that.” Tony nodded, fully appreciating the chance he got for working  _ here _ .

“Wait a minute, there’s still something that I don’t get.” Obadiah held up one of his hands, grabbing Tony and Fisk’s attention.

“What is it?” Fisk asked.

“How would trapping a bunch of people be beneficial to creating a cure again?” He asked.

“Simple,” Tony shrugged. “Blueprints.”

“Huh?” They both looked a bit lost at what he was saying.

“Yeah, right.” Tony chuckled to himself, realizing how old the men in front of him were.

“In order to monitor their behavior, we must have a kind of a brain map for each one of them, their health status, everything. Brain blueprints.” Tony explained.

“This means that we need to bring them here first to run these tests.” Obadiah replied, seeming to understand more.

“But they can’t know about all this.” Fisk shook his head. “It wouldn’t work if they knew they were being purposely sent out there by us.”

“Then we wipe out their memories after getting all what we want from them.” Obadiah remarked nonchalantly.

“That could work.” Tony said.

“How?” Fisk wondered.

“It needs to be done carefully, of course, but there is no harm in it. Actually, it would be better this way, because memories could be one of the factors that mainly affect the way they think, or act.” He brought his hand up to his chin, thinking the whole process through.

“On one hand, we have unharmed, fully-functioning brains, and on the other hand, none of them would know why they were out there in the first place.” Fisk concluded.

“Exactly.” Tony answered.

“And the trials they would have to face there?” Fisk asked.

“Leave that to me.” Tony said, images starting to build up in his mind.

“Actually, I might have a recommendation, but I don’t know if it would work.” Obadiah said.

“Shoot.”

“I have read about cross-species theories, before.” Obadiah paused, rummaging through a pile of paper sheets, before he laid out four of them on the table in front of Tony.

Tony’s eyes widened at what he saw, “Holy shit, you designed these?” 

Obadiah shrugged, “It’s just an idea.”

Four profiles of the same drawing were resting on the table. It was the drawing of a creature he has never seen before. It looked like half a scorpion, and half a spider. It had the body of a scorpion, spikes lining it up all the way to the end of its tail. The tail was partly mechanical, ending with a robotic triple claw. It stood on big arachnid legs, somehow robotic as well.

Drawings of its face were horrifying, countless sharp teeth, and small malicious eyes staring back at him.

“Shit, Obie, that is something. How did you come up with it?” He asked, not breaking his gaze from the sketches in his hands.

“It was just a concept I kept to myself. I was interested in genetics and cross- species back in the days, but I never got the chance to work on them.”

“So, what do you think?” Obadiah peeked curiously at him.

“That’s—You’re not seriously thinking about making this a part of the trials, aren’t you?” Tony eyed him.

“Why not?” Obadiah asked, surprised with Tony’s lack of encouragement.

“ _ Why not? _ ” Tony couldn’t help but scoff. “If this thing lands one single limb out there, there won’t be candidates left to test anymore!” 

“But it does evoke the required emotions.” Obadiah argued.

“We’re supposed to test them not  _ kill  _ them.” Tony stated. “If you want this to work, let me do it  _ my  _ way.” 

The men fell silent after that, clearly contemplating whether to listen to him or not. After long moments of silence, Fisk said something.

“We have our faith in you, Mr. Stark.” His voice was determined. 

He glanced at Obie who looked quite unhappy at first, but then he nodded in confirmation when his partner spoke.

“Good.” Tony’s lips quirked up in a small smile.

“So, when do we start?” He asked, leaning back in his seat, excitement stirring inside him for the first time during this meeting.

“Right now, if you wish.” Obadiah said.

“Now?” Tony raised his eyebrows in surprise, looking back and forth between them.

“I see no reason for waiting.” Fisk stood up, buttoning his black suit jacket.

Tony and Obie stood up, following Fisk’s movements. “Stane could accompany you down to the Advanced Science and Technology department and introduce you to the whole team.” Fisk addressed them.

“Wait- introduce me?”

“Yes.” Fisk replied, as a matter of fact.

“Yeah, but do you do that with every new employee?”

“Oh, Tony, you’re not just a new employee.” Obadiah grinned.

“Am I missing something, here?” Tony frowned.

“Mr. Stark, we hired you as Head of the department.” Fisk announced. 

“The final piece of the puzzle!” Obadiah cheered.

“Are you kidding?” Tony couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

He knew they would offer him a job, a great one, but to be responsible for the hundreds of people he saw on his first time here? He must be dreaming.

“Do you see me smiling, Mr. Stark?” Fisk asked, not a hint of emotion seen on his face.

“You certainly aren’t.” Tony chuckled, stealing a look at Obadiah who was still grinning.

Fisk was really vague to Tony; one minute he’s encouraging him, and the second he’s being unapproachable. Like, who on Earth offers someone such a great position this way? No one. He felt more comfortable when Obadiah addressed him. Not that Obie didn’t seem serious about the whole thing, he sure was, but Fisk was more professional. Either way, Tony was willing to do his best, so no one, not even Fisk or Stane, would hold anything against him. It was as clear as crystal since the moment he was brought here, that everyone here is serious about their job.

“Let’s go then.” Obadiah broke the awkward silence, taking Tony by the arm, leading him out of the room.

They walked out into the corridor, and back to the elevator that brought Tony up to the meeting room.

“How are you two even friends?” Tony couldn’t help but ask. He didn’t expect a certain answer, though. It was more of a wonder than an actual question.

“When you find someone who shares the same dreams and ambitions as you, it sort of happens, no matter what.” Stane uttered.

“And this,” Tony gestured around where they were standing, waiting for the elevator. “Was your dream.”

Obadiah shook his head, “Part of it. The best is yet to come, Stark.” He said, just as he heard the ding of the elevator.

They both entered, and Obadiah voiced the floor number they were headed to. Tony’s stomach was turning in excitement.  _ The best is yet to come _ . The sentence rang in his head, adding up to his emotions that were on edge. How could these men put this much trust in him? He knew he was good at what he did, but did they? They just believed everything he told them about the Flare; they haven’t questioned one information that escaped his lips. They have probably dug around to find information about him, either that, or they wouldn’t have brought him here. Tony assumed the man next to him, and the man whom they left in the meeting room, weren’t easy people. They were still his bosses; who had control of almost everyone in this building, including him, even if one of them put up a friendly face. He felt like he owed them for saving him from the hands of the sick people who kidnapped him.

Tony was pulled out of his thoughts when the doors to the elevators slid open, indicating that they had arrived.

“Come on.” Obadiah gestured for him to follow.

They both strode the huge room, and stood in the very middle of it. Everyone was alarmed at the sight of Obadiah, leaving what they were doing and paying attention to the man in the suit, which meant that it wasn’t every day that the person who built this place made an entrance.

“Good afternoon. Today, I would like you to welcome a new, but a very important member to our family.” Stane smiled, glancing at Tony and then back at the crowd in front of him whose focus was on him now.

“I introduce to you, Head of the Advanced Science and Technology Department, Mr. Tony Stark.” Obadiah clasped his hands together, a full grin on his face now.

The crowd clapped their hands, deafening Tony. He felt his ears flaming hot at the impression Stane made him leave. “Your office is right there on the left.” Obadiah pointed towards a white door on his far left.

“I’ll leave you to get acquainted.” He patted Tony’s back, and took off, disappearing into the sea of white lab coats around him.

Tony felt nervous; he didn’t know if these people were treated formally, or if he could be his usual self around them. He knew one thing, that he was their boss now, and they would probably not mind, right? 

They all looked like they were doing their job, everyone minding their own business. Several young men approached him, introduced themselves, and shook his hand, welcoming him to W.C.K.D. He was starting to feel a little bit more comfortable now, that he started to know people, apart from the fact that he couldn’t remember any of the names that were said to him, seconds ago.

After the crowd lessened, another young man approached Tony. He was average height, closer to short; his figure small. His hair was chestnut brown, cut short. He looked younger than the others Tony has seen earlier.

“Hello, Mr. Stark.” He extended his hand for Tony to shake, a nervous small smile tinting his thin lips.

“Hi,” Tony shook his hand back, which was uncomfortably sweaty. 

“Peter.” He smiled. “My name is Peter Parker.”

“Good to meet you, Peter.” Tony smiled back at him, hoping it would make the kid look less nervous. 

_ Was he this intimidating? _

“Are you really  _ the  _ Tony Stark? The guy who went missing?” Peter gaped. 

“Oh, I’m famous now?” Tony chuckled.

“I—I saw you on the news.” Peter stated nervously.

“Were you stalking me, Peter?” Tony joked.

Peter laughed, “No, no, sir, I—”

“Please, just Tony.” He smiled. “Formalities get on my nerves.”

“Alright then, I better get back to work. I’m really looking forward to working with you, it’s an honor.” Peter shook his hand again, rather confidently this time.

“Likewise.” Tony smiled back at him.

He watched as Peter went back to where he was working, and glanced at the white door Stane referred to, earlier. He made his way into the room and shut the door behind him, tuning out the sounds of the busy lab. He found an L-shaped glass office with a white chair behind it. The wall to its left was all glass, allowing the light of the sun to peek through it. The other three walls were a darker shade of white, lined with shelves and random paintings. A round white table was found in the middle of the room, with what Tony assumed were gesture control devices. He picked them up, putting the black bands over the palms of his hands. He waved his hand over the table, and he was met with a holographic image of the whole W.C.K.D premises. He was amazed at how huge this place was, and how they managed to get this type of technology in almost a post-apocalyptic world.

Tony spent the next two hours looking through the image displayed in front of him, exploring his way around, and all his available options to improve this technology for his own good. If he was going to work on this, he had to at least feel comfortable doing it. Tony wouldn’t mind spending the whole day waving his hands around, running experiments, as long as everything went the way he wanted. He took notes, wrote down what he needed, and even started adding up some privileges and aids that might help him. The first thing he had written down was creating an artificial intelligence system. He has always wanted one; he even had it all planned out, but never got the chance. And here, with this technology, he had everything. It was like his imaginary world became true. The second task he needed to start working on almost immediately, was the digital construction of the Maze. 

He was sitting by his office, jotting down some ideas for the trials he was going to implement, when a loud ringing sound broke Tony’s concentration, forcing him to look for where the sound was coming from. By the time he walked over to the door to see what was happening, the sound had already stopped.

He found all employees taking off their coats, and leaving whatever that they were doing, going somewhere he didn’t know. He had no idea what was happening; were working hours finished already? He left his office when he spotted his newly acquainted friend (sort of) following them.

“Hey! Peter, right?” Tony asked, catching up to his walking pace. 

“Yes, hi.” He warmly greeted back.

“Where are you all going?” Tony asked in confusion.

“It’s two in the afternoon, it’s lunchtime.” Peter shrugged.

“Yeah, right.” Tony nodded, feeling like a complete idiot. 

“Thanks, bud.” He patted Peter’s shoulder and made his way back to his office.

“You’re not coming?” Peter asked, stopping him halfway.

“No, I’ll just—yeah, in a few minutes, you go ahead.” Tony waved.

“Alright.” Peter nodded, and turned around, walking towards where food was being served.

Tony was hungry, but he had to finish writing down what he had in mind before it all disappeared. He sat back down, scribbling down his ideas for the Maze trials. A few minutes later, his constantly grumbling stomach forced him to leave his work behind and search for the place his employees were currently at. He walked the same path he saw Peter take, until he was in the middle of a hall filled with metal eating benches. Buffets sat alongside each wall in the room, showing various types of food, desserts, drinks, everything. He figured that this lunch break wasn’t only for his department, because the place was packed with different colors of uniforms other than the dark blue one he saw his workers wearing beneath their lab coats.

He made his way over to one of the food-filled tables, picking up a plate, adding what would satisfy his hunger to it. He looked around, eyes roaming the occupied seats. He saw someone wave at him from the far distance, who turned out to be Peter. He was sitting across a girl whose back was to Tony. He approached them, awkwardly setting his plate down on the table. They were the only two sitting, which was why, Tony figured, Peter offered him to sit with them.

“I hope I’m not crashing a date, here.” Tony joked. 

“Oh, no, no we’re not dating.” Peter argued.

“God, no. We’re just friends.” The girl joined the conversation.

Peter scooted away, making room for Tony to sit down, so now he was the one sitting across the girl. Her hair was a dark shade of brown, pulled up in a messy bun. Her features were calm, a ghost of a smile lighting them up.

“That’s my best friend, MJ. MJ, this is—”

“Oh, please, I know who he is.” MJ rolled her eyes.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Mr. Stark. I’m Michelle Jones.” She smiled, shaking his hand.

“Nice to meet you, too. Ms. Jones.” He replied just as professionally as she addressed him, smiling back. 

“I didn’t see you earlier, today.” Tony frowned, glancing at her different uniform.

“Oh, MJ doesn’t work here. She works at the Biology department, but we meet during breaks.” Peter pointed at his friend.

“Interesting.” Tony said, looking down at his plate, and started to eat. 

“How did you two meet?” He looked back and forth between them, trying to break the ice.

“Oh, I’ve known Peter since we were like, fourteen or something.” She shrugged, looking at him.

“Wait—” Tony paused, “You’re not fourteen already?” He chuckled. 

“No?” They answered in unison, shooting Tony a weird look.

“Then how old are you?” Tony gaped. They looked too young, compared to the others working here.

“Twenty.”

“Nineteen.”

They both answered in one breath. Peter is twenty, and MJ is nineteen, which was unbelievable.

“You guys are kidding, right? Got any fake IDs hidden here or there?” Tony eyed them suspiciously.

They both laughed, looking at Tony, who was having a hard time processing the new facts.

“Great, I’m the grandpa now.” He joked.

“Obviously.” Peter answered over MJ’s giggles, Tony joining them both.

“We’re lucky to have Tony Stark as our grandpa, though.” Peter raised his eyebrows playfully, looking at Tony.

“Yeah, that’s right, kid.” Tony chuckled, looking at his small, but awfully comfortable company.

He stared down at his food, devouring it. He certainly didn’t feel like a grandpa sitting and talking with them, in fact, he felt comfortable. He was definitely looking forward to spending more time with Peter Parker and Michelle Jones.


	4. Chapter 4

It has been three weeks since his first meeting with his bosses. Three weeks of hard work and staying up all night. He barely got any sleep, but he didn’t mind as long as he was progressing. His team was one of the best, full of brilliant minds; quick, witty employees. His AI system was now fully functioning, providing him with everything he needed during the process of constructing the maze. He has been spending more time with Peter and Michelle, but Peter more, as he was the one working with him. Peter has mentioned that Michelle envied him for spending more time with Tony Stark and that ‘it is not fair’ that she only gets to meet him at lunch. It made him laugh when Peter told him, and it also warmed his heart that there were people who actually wanted to interact with him apart from working together.

Peter has been helping him a lot, more than he expected. Tony was amazed at how smart and dedicated he was to his work. He would sometimes stay until his work hours ended, just to spend more time with Tony, helping him out. No matter how many times Tony would tell him that he did not need any help, or that Peter should take a break, it only made him want to stay more. Peter is stubborn, but Tony is just as stubborn as he is, and he successfully managed to give Peter a night off today. It ended with an angry Peter with an unforgiving scowl on his face, but Tony knew he needed the rest. He has been doing more than he was required to do, anyway.

It was almost midnight, and he was the only person on the whole floor, his office dimly lit. His third cup of coffee rested on the round white table in front of him, his eyes staring at the prototype before him. His eyes were burning from the lack of sleep, and the constant staring at holographic images all day. He has just finished designing the Maze. It was round, filled with complex patterns. He sighed, rubbing his eyes before trying this for the millionth time.

“Alright Jarv, you know what to do.” He spoke out loud to his AI system.

“ _ Scanning for errors, sir _ .” His male-voiced intelligence system answered.

Tony waited the few seconds to pass, hoping that it would work this time. He has been working on designing the wall patterns inside the Maze, and somehow, every time he messed something up. And right now, tonight, he really wasn’t ready to hear about one more error found. His nerves were destroyed from how many nights he would spend in his office, his main meal being a large cup of black coffee. He screwed his eyes shut and craned back his neck, feeling his eyes burn from how dry they were.

“ _ Scanning complete. No errors were found. _ ”

Tony’s eyes snapped open, both joy and disbelief overtaking him. His heart leaped in his chest, but at this moment, he wasn’t sure if it was the caffeine or his own happiness.

“I did it.” He whispered, looking at the displayed image of the Maze in front of him, a wide smile on his face.

“ _ Yes, you did it, sir. _ ” Jarvis replied.

“Shit.” He sighed, leaning back in his seat, relief washing over him. He finally finished outlining the Maze.

He knew that was the hardest part, and that the trials would be a lot easier than building something from scratch. He had half of the trials already planned out in his head, and once they were designed, it would only be a matter of following commands. He had control of almost everything that was related to technology or science. Tony made sure that the trials he was going to apply would be mostly related to what he is best at, in order to have access to everything going on out there.

“Alright, let’s call it a night.” Tony said, getting up and removing the controllers from his hands.

He was looking forward to sinking his exhausted body in his bed, and sleeping for three days in a row. But unfortunately, he knew that wish couldn’t become true, not when you’re responsible for hundreds of other employees. He switched off the light in his office, and descended down the building until he reached his car. He no longer stayed in the room he first stayed at when he was brought here. He had his own penthouse in another building, not very far from where he worked, but far enough for it to be a car ride. He hopped in his black Audi, and drove back to where he lived now. As soon as he arrived, he parked his car, and went up to his apartment.

The lights went on when he entered, nearly blinding him. “Too much, too much.” He grunted, touching the nearest wall, and swiping down, turning the lights down a bit.

He didn’t even bother to change his clothes, before he stumbled to his bedroom, dropping onto his bed, and falling into a deep sleep.

The next morning, he found himself in his office looking again at his recent successful work. He couldn’t wait to tell Peter about it; he knew he would be so happy with this news. A knock on the door startled him. He looked up and found Peter’s head peeking through the half-opened door.

“You wanted to see me?” Peter asked.

“Yeah, yeah come in.” Tony gestured for him to come in, and Peter did, shutting the door behind him.

“Is everything okay? Did something happen after I left, yesterday?” Peter asked, anxiousness already covering his features.

“Yeah, something happened.” Tony folded his hands together, pretending to seem serious. He had shut down the image of the Maze when he heard Peter knock on the door.

“It didn’t work again, didn’t it?” Peter’s shoulders slumped.

“In fact,” Tony spoke, trying his best not to smile, but failing miserably. He displayed the completed Maze figure in front of Peter, watching his reaction change drastically to a little kid who has just got their first bike.

“Holy cow! You did it!” Peter gaped. “It worked!” He shook his head in disbelief, a huge grin plastered on his face, the reflection of the blue light coming from the image lighting up his features.

“No,  _ we _ did it.” Tony corrected, draping an arm over Peter’s shoulders. 

Peter scoffed, “I did nothing. I just watched you work and spammed you with dozens of questions is what I did.”

“Discredit yourself as much as you want, but I’m your boss. It’s your word against mine.” Tony reminded him, a smile on his face.

Peter shook his head at him, and looked back at the figure hovering in the air. “Wow, Tony. That’s amazing.” He breathed.

“Of course, it is.  _ I _ made it.” Tony joked, playfully raising his eyebrows at Peter.

“Of course.” Peter rolled his eyes, his lips curved into a smile. “So, what now?” He asked, curiosity evident in his voice.

“Now, I need to show this to your and my bosses.” Tony mentioned, sitting back at the chair behind his glass office.

“No, I mean, what are we working on next?” Peter clarified, approaching his office.

“The trials, of course. That will be your favorite part.” Tony winked. “More practical work, experiments and stuff.”

He watched as Peter’s eyes lit up in excitement, “That’s cool! When are we starting?” His voice was higher in pitch now, causing Tony to chuckle.

“Slow down, Dexter. I’ll tell you everything in the right time.” He assured.

“Did you just refer to me as Dexter? From the cartoon?” Peter narrowed his eyes at him.

“Can you blame me?” Tony asked, trying his best not to laugh.

“Excuse me!” Peter laughed, clearly taken aback.

“Look at you in your lab coat, we just have to put a pair of really big glasses, and you would make a perfect real-life Dexter.” Tony pushed, laughing.

“Shut up.” Peter waved him off, joining his laughter. “I am a genius, though.” He admitted, straightening his white coat, earning another chuckle from Tony.

“Get to work, genius, or I’ll mess up your report.” He teased.

“Alright, alright.” Peter laughed, walking out of the office.

“I’ll see you at lunch then?” He asked, standing by the door.

“Sure, Dex.” Tony answered, seeing Peter face palm himself at the new nickname he earned.

“Good luck finding an empty spot at lunch today!” Peter half yelled jokingly, shutting the door and walking out of his sight.

Tony did need to inform Stane and Fisk about finishing the Maze so they could put things into action. It would be a couple more weeks before everything was ready for the candidates. He sighed and got up, leaving his office. He made his way up to where he first met the people who hired him here. He stood in front of the door, taking a deep breath before entering. He found Fisk waiting for him, which meant that he received his message about meeting up, urgently.

“Good morning, Mr. Stark.” Fisk greeted, shaking Tony’s hand. 

“Morning.” Tony greeted back, sitting down.

“I hope what you have for me is indeed urgent.” Fisk stated calmly, leaning forward in his seat.

“See for yourself.” Tony forced a smile, displaying what he had for him.

“ _ Fascinating _ .” Fisk uttered, eyes roaming the prototype before him. “I’m impressed.”

“That’s good news then.” Tony remarked, rotating the image, allowing Fisk to see every detail.

“What should be our next step?” He asked, not taking his eyes off Tony’s design. Tony could see how much they shone with pride, and that left him feeling satisfied with the amount of effort he spent the past three weeks.

“I could start working on the trials right away, and you on the other hand, should start looking for candidates.” Tony stated, leaning back in his seat.

“Do we have certain standards?” Fisk inquired, a look of thoughtfulness on his face.

Tony thought for a second, “No, not really.”

“What about age? And the number of young men we should bring?” He asked.

“As I have mentioned before, the younger they are, the better. The oldest of them should be maximum thirty. As for the number, the more people we have, the better our chances of finding the perfect candidates we’re looking for, is bigger.” Tony explained, staring at the model in front of him.

“Thank you for the good news, Mr. Stark. I will let Stane know about this.” Fisk thanked him, a small smile of appreciation curving his lips.

“You’re welcome.” Tony nodded.

He hated formal talking, and he mostly hated how intimidating Fisk seemed. It always made him uncomfortable.

“How is everything going for you, Mr. Stark? I hope you found our people cooperative.” Fisk fondly stated, clearly proud.

“Good. Everything is more than fine, really.” Tony smiled, remembering Peter. “Everyone is doing their best, actually there is one employee who has been helping me a lot, lately. Peter Parker.”

“Ah, Mr. Parker. He is one of our best.” Tony watched as Fisk’s smile grew bigger, which was pretty much the first time Tony saw him smile that wide.

“Despite of his young age, he is smart, hardworking, and very dedicated to his work.” Tony shook his head in gratitude. “How did you manage to find him?” Tony asked, curiosity eating at him.

“That’s a long story.” Fisk said, standing up. “Which I don’t have the time to tell to you now, Mr. Stark.”

“I understand.” Tony nodded.

“Perhaps, another time.” He added. “For now, I have to go search for our subjects, Mr. Stark, as well as someone who would bring them here, and be responsible for them.”

“Of course.” Tony agreed, standing up in front of him.

“Have a good day.” Fisk curtly nodded, letting Tony know that he could leave already.

He let himself out, and made his way back to his office. He really needed to sort out another way for them to meet up. It’s a whole journey from where he worked to here, and it looked like they would be meeting frequently, these days. He could try and propose the idea of a virtual meeting, and see how things would go. He sat down, working on the first of the trials; things that were only activated through the department commands, such as doors opening or closing, traps activating, and weather changes. He figured that since the whole Maze was digitally constructed, then everything was all in his hands. 

Hours went by, and now it was time for their lunch break. Tony left his office and headed to where the main hall was. He spotted Michelle and Peter sitting together as usual, waiting for him. He could see Peter’s playful angry face from where he stood, picking up his plate. He went and sat down with them, shooting Peter a teasing look.

He saw Michelle frowning, looking at them like they were a couple of weirdos, “What’s going on with you, two?”

“Nothing.” Peter answered, almost instantly.

“I have found a very creative nickname for your friend here, but he does not appreciate it.” Tony shrugged, enjoying how amusing Peter looked right now.

He was even happier when Michelle backed him up, carrying on with the scenario. She looked at Peter in disgust, and simply said, “Shame on you.”

Silence fell among them, before Jones burst into a fit of laughter, Tony joining her, while Peter sat there with a grin that he was trying so hard to stop, but couldn’t.

“So, what is it?” Michelle asked, taking a sip from the glass of water that was next to her plate. “What did you call him?”

“Remember that really old cartoon, it had a kid who had his own laboratory.” Tony hinted, waiting to see Michelle’s reaction.

She laughed again, unable to stop her laughter this time, while Peter just buried his face in his hands.

“Oh my god, you’re Dexter.” She laughed. “Actually, you two are similar on so many levels.” She noted.

“See?” Tony looked at Peter.

Peter rolled his eyes, “I don’t know why I even save you a seat every day.”

“Dude, Tony Stark named you after a genius cartoon character. Could you at least pretend that you’re flattered?” Michelle scolded Peter.

“I am!” Peter exclaimed.

“That just proves how much of a nerd you are.” Michelle shook her head, laughing to herself.

“I’m not a nerd.” Peter argued, setting down his fork.

“And other jokes you can tell to yourself.” Michelle rolled her eyes.

“You two, stop bickering before you really turn into Dexter and Dee Dee.” Tony silenced them, and watched as they exchanged an angry look at each other, but stayed silent.

“Good. The grandpa wins again.” Tony smiled to himself, Peter and Michelle laughing at his words.

The rest of Tony’s day went well, he kept calling Peter ‘Dexter’ the whole day, and the name was starting to grow on him. He didn’t argue anymore, he just chuckled every time Tony would say it in a dramatic tone, trying to annoy him. He was glad with their pace, Obadiah has told him earlier that technicians were already starting to build the Maze, and Fisk had men roaming around New York, looking for their candidates. Everything was going the way he wanted. He was happy with having Peter as his associate and not just some member from his team. He was different, and as time passed, Tony found himself liking the kid more and more.

_

One week passed, and Tony was informed that they were bringing in the batch of candidates they managed to find soon. The Maze was fully constructed by now, waiting for the trials to be finished and ready to be activated. Tony had a couple of trials left to get done, but they were almost finished as well, so he wasn’t worried. His whole team was alert, waiting for the kids to arrive, to start with their tests as soon as they had them. Their tests would take time to get done, specially that each one of them will almost be checked from head to toe. He himself felt anxious, waiting to see how things will go. Their real work was approaching, and he had so many things on his mind. Tony was sitting with Peter, trying to work something out and waiting for the scanning Jarvis was doing to be finished. 

“ _ Trial number 027 is complete. _ ” Jarvis announced.

“Yes!” Peter exclaimed in victory from beside Tony. 

He let a number of seconds pass before he spoke again. “This is so overwhelming. All of it.” He breathed, looking around Tony’s office and then back at him.

“It’s not your first time in here. What’s new?” Tony teased, referring to his room where Peter has been spending most of his day. 

“If someone had come to me a month ago, and told me that I would not only be working with you, let alone see you every day and--” Peter paused, clearly at a loss of words. 

“Relax.” Tony patted his shoulder softly. 

“I just, thank you, for letting me be a part of this, and-- working with you.” Peter smiled.

“You deserve it.” Tony smiled back. “Actually, you deserve more, but that’s all I can do. So, right now, you’re kinda stuck with me.” He scrunched up his face. 

“That’s more than fine with me.” Peter grinned.

Awkward silence briefly filled the room, before Tony spoke up. “Love the sentiment, bud, but you’re done for today.” He chuckled.

“What? Nooo.” Peter whined. 

“You’re seriously going to do that every time I send you home?” Tony pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“If you stop forcing me to go home every day, I won’t.” Peter argued, standing up.

“Well, today I need the rest, too. So, I’m not sending you home to have all the fun to myself. Plus, you need to rest before the real work starts next week.” Tony said, rearranging scattered files on his desk.

“Fine.” Peter sighed, obviously convinced with Tony’s words. “I’ll see you first thing in the morning then.” 

“Goodnight, Peter.” Tony said as he watched Peter walk out the door, and back to where he lives.

He did feel exhausted, and he was sure he was starting to burden Peter with too much work, even if he was cooperating and didn’t mind. He was thankful he had Peter on his side, helping him with everything, from bringing him coffee to solving the hardest equations with him. They were bonding insanely fast, and Tony was afraid he was becoming too attached to the kid. He admired how down to earth Peter is, even if he had every right not to be. Hell, Tony could bet that if they were in a better world, Peter would have been a great scientist who had a lab of his own.

Tony sighed to himself and picked up his phone, shoving it in his pocket. He shut down his work and headed down to his car. It was dark, the weather a bit chilly, causing him to shiver. He extended out his right arm, aiming for the door handle to his car door. In a flash, his arm was violently twisted and pushed behind his back, threatening to break if any pressure was added. Someone he couldn’t see pushed him forward, slamming his upper body into the door he was just about to open. 

He opened his mouth to speak, but a hand went up to his mouth, covering it. 

“Make one sound, and you will never be able to drive your precious car again.” A foreign voice threatened, very close to his ear.


	5. Chapter 5

Horror struck Tony, his heart racing in his chest. The one thing that kept ringing in his mind was what would have happened if he let Peter stay with him tonight. He could have been hurt by whoever was threatening him right now. He didn’t know what to do, or who it could possibly be.

“Nod if you understand.” The stranger calmly stated, his voice filled with pent up anger, threatening to break loose.

Whoever had him easily pushed against his car door with his arm twisted behind his back like that, didn’t seem like a person he could mess around with. He also didn’t sound anything like the people who had kidnapped him before. This person knew exactly what they were doing, and they weren’t willing to tolerate any messing around. Tony slowly nodded, listening to his assailant. The guy slowly removed his hand, uncovering Tony’s mouth. He subconsciously let out a sigh of relief.

“Might as well let go of the arm will ya?” Tony breathed, still in a slight pain. He still couldn’t turn around to see who was behind him.

The man harshly let go of his arm, causing Tony to hit his head in the top of the car at the impact. “What the fuck?” He hissed, not knowing whether to grab his arm, or his head that was throbbing in pain.

“What is _your problem_?” Tony turned around. He was dumbstruck with what his eyes laid sight on.

A guy dressed in black stood a few inches away from him. His body looked strong, the black shirt he was wearing revealing his toned torso muscles. His face was covered with a black mask that covered the upper half of his face. It was dark, but he could clearly see the light stubble that covered his cheeks, and his half-parted lips.

“You’re the problem, Stark.” The guy’s fists curled on either side of him. 

“Me?” Tony scoffed. “I don’t even know you.” He snapped.

“You’re about to.” And with that, the masked man hit him on the head with his elbow, sending him into a sea of darkness.

What felt like ages later, his eyes slowly opened. His body was heavy; he tried to move but there was something holding him back. His head, which was hanging low, slowly raised, looking around him. He found himself in a wide vacant room, surrounded by empty space. He was tied to a chair, which was why he felt like he couldn’t move. His upper body was tied to the back of the chair, his arms tied behind it. Each leg was strapped from the ankle to the front legs of the wooden chair that he assumed was situated in the middle of the room. As much as he felt scared, he couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony of his situation. No matter what he did or did not do, he always ends up tied in the middle of nowhere. The room was dimly lit by a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling, allowing him very little of observing the place.

“Rise and shine.” He heard the same voice break the eerie silence.

“Seriously?” Tony spat in anger.

“Look, this only goes one way.” The man in the mask said, coming into view. “You answer my questions, you’re free to go back to your luxurious life.” He stopped right in front of Tony.

“And if I don’t, let me guess,” Tony paused, pretending to think. “Oh, you’ll kill me. Well, I hate to break it to you, pal, but I’ve been there before. Pick another one.” He clicked his tongue.

The guy crouched down so he could be at eye level with Tony, a smirk shaping his lips. “Listen to me very carefully,” He rested one arm on the back of the chair, right next to where Tony’s head was.

“If you don’t answer my questions, I will very much enjoy breaking every bone in your body until there are no whole ones left.” He threatened in a steady tone, that left Tony feeling uncomfortable by the time he was done talking.

“Am I clear?” The man asked.

“Crystal.” Tony answered impatiently, already wanting to be out of here. “What is Fisk and Stane up to?” He got up, standing in front of him.

Tony couldn’t help but chuckle again, “Like that’s any of your business?”

“Wrong answer.” The guy snapped, punching Tony in the jaw.

“Jesus, what is wrong with you?” Tony looked at him, rage pouring out from his eyes, his lips parted in pain.

“I want answers.” The man in the mask repeated angrily.

“Then grow a pair and ask proper questions!” Tony yelled.

“What is WCKD doing? Why did they hire you?” The guy asked.

“They’re developing a cure for the Flare, and I’m helping them.” Tony answered.

“A cure? Don’t bullshit me, Stark.” The man scoffed.

“I’m not bullshitting you. Your arrogant ass just can’t understand that there are actually good people out there willing to help others.” Tony spat.

“You call these assholes good people? What type of good people send their men to break into homes and rob families of their loved ones?” He angrily asked.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Tony replied, clueless to what the man was asking about.

He stood silent in front of him, his head tilted to the side. It was hard to read his facial expression from what was seen from his face, but Tony could tell that it was scrunched up in disgust.

“Look, I don’t know about you, but those people literally saved me. I owe it to them, and whatever you heard about them, it’s not true. We really are developing a cure, and we’re making great progress.” Tony tried to convince him, but he could tell the man wasn’t buying any of what he was saying.

“You call hurting or _possibly_ killing kids on your watch, progress, Stark?” He almost sounded disappointed.

“Those kids will not be harmed, not on my watch. I have everything under control. Wait how did you—” His words were cut off, by yet another blow to the head, before everything went black.

What felt like five minutes later, he found himself sprawled out on the pavement, next to his car. He grunted in pain, as he slowly rose to his feet, his hands instantly checking his body for any further injuries. He found his car keys and phone in his pocket where he left them earlier, which only added up to his confusion. He unlocked his car and collapsed into the driver’s seat, and started driving away. His head was spinning with so many thoughts. Fear still lingered in the pit of his stomach. He had no idea what just happened, who that person was, what he wanted, nothing. There were no answers for his questions. The clock read two in the morning, and he was beyond exhausted, angry, and in pain. The one thing that left him feeling a slight relief, was that he was completely alone when all of that happened. As soon as he arrived home, he searched through everything he had, every source of information he had access to, about a man in a black mask, but he was met with a dead end every time.

It just doubled his anger that he couldn’t find one single picture, or article about that freak. It was like he was a ghost. No history, no one has spotted him before, nothing. He wasn’t even a thief. W.C.K.D was huge, and sure Fisk and Stane do have enemies, but not ninjas that come at you at night. He didn’t seem like he was the evil type of enemy, though. Except for that he hit really hard. Tony could still feel his head pounding in pain where he was hit.

One person can’t be a threat to a whole organization that aims to do good. That guy sounded desperate; he needed information, and he thought he could get what he wanted from Tony, but he didn’t quite understand what happened before he let Tony go. He didn’t know whether he gave him what he wanted or not, and why did he just let him go that easily? And what did he mean by ‘breaking into homes and robbing families of their loved ones’? Tony was sure he was bluffing. Stane and Fisk were more professional and mature than that. They wouldn’t hurt anyone, right? 

He sighed, burying his face in his hands. He stayed like that for a few minutes, reliving his whole day in his head. One realization hit him, and his head almost snapped out of its place when he looked up suddenly.

“Son of a bitch.” Tony whispered to himself.

That man thought he was out-smarting himself when he attacked Tony, thinking he would listen obediently to what he says, and as soon as he felt threatened, as soon as he felt like he wasn’t the smartest one in the room, he knocked Tony out and let him go. That person knew something, something he shouldn’t know, but he couldn’t do anything about it. What he knew wasn’t enough. One man alone with some information (which were probably false), given by what bullshit he threw at him, cannot get in the way of something as huge as what W.C.K.D was doing, and even if he tried to, Tony would be more than prepared to get him out of the way.

He got up from where he was seated on the couch, and went into his bedroom to pick up clean clothes before heading into the shower. He stopped to look at his reflection in the mirror above his dresser. Lucky for him, there were no cuts, just a slight bruising in the corner of his head, which Tony figured would look like double its size in the morning. After showering, he laid in bed, eyes staring at the white ceiling. He came up with something he could tell to Peter about the fresh bruise in his face, because knowing Peter, it would be the first thing he would ask about. His eyes finally closed, allowing him the rest he has been waiting for since the minute he woke up.

The next morning, unsurprisingly, he was late. It took him quite a few minutes to actually wake up before he could leave the bed. When he entered his office, he found Peter sitting in his chair behind his desk.

“I see you have taken up my legacy while I’m still alive and healthy?” Tony barged in, purposely scaring Peter.

“Jeez.” He laughed, backing away from the desk. “You could’ve knocked.” He placed his hand on his chest.

“I’m sorry, I’m supposed to knock on the door to _my_ office now, Mr. Parker?” He teased, shutting the door behind him and walking further into the room.

Peter stood up, and approached him. “What’s wrong with your head?” His forehead creased.

“Nothing. I bumped my head into the car last night.” He shrugged, hoping Peter would buy it.

He stayed silent for a few seconds, eyeing him, and Tony was already trying to find another lie to come up with.

“You really were that tired.” Peter chuckled, shaking his head.

“Told ya.” Tony fake laughed, mentally sighing in relief.

“Alright, I’m gonna go get to work.” Peter excitedly said, already on his way to the door. “See you around.” He smiled, shutting the door behind him.

“Yeah.” Tony smiled back, even though Peter was no longer here, and he couldn’t see him.

He sat at his desk, putting on his controllers, bringing Jarvis to life.

“Alright, what do we have today, Jarv?” Tony asked, rubbing his hands together in excitement, trying to ignore the unsettling feeling that found its way to him after last night, and focus on his work.

“ _You can pick up working on trial 037 and 041, boss_.” The robotic male voice announced.

“No, we can proceed another time.” Tony replied, swiping the images of the trials Jarvis mentioned to the side.

Tony rested his hand on his cheek, staring at the complex calculations in front of him, before an idea popped in his head.

“Show me different breeds of spiders that are likely to accept radioactive radiation.” Tony demanded.

Seconds later, various shapes and sizes of spider figures were loading in front of him.

“These are not deadly, right?” Tony asked, picking on images and spinning them, studying each figure.

“ _No, sir. Their bites are venomous, but they do not threaten one’s vital conditions._ ”

“Perfect.” Tony muttered to himself.

“ _What are you planning, Mr. Stark?_ ”

“Ah, Jarv, if I tell you now, it might not happen.” Excitement was already starting to build up in his stomach as he thought about the outcome of this experiment. “Tell me, will we be able to genetically modify them?”

“ _To some extent, yes_.”

“Good.” Tony nodded, choosing different images of spiders and having them copied to a flash drive.

He knew he had to start working on this now, if he wanted it to be done by the time their candidates were here. He took the flash drive and made his way to the Biology Department. He went straight to their boss, telling him what he wanted to do, and asked him to keep this between the both of them. He then left the department feeling satisfied, and excited to see Peter’s reaction when he tells him about it. He made sure that the place he and Peter will be working at would be their department and none other. The trials were Tony’s responsibility, and both Stane and Fisk made that clear when he told them that he would deal with it on his own; not everyone needed to know what he was doing, unless he wanted them to.

He was on his way back to his office when his phone buzzed in his pocket, startling him. He picked it up, and found a message from Fisk, asking him to go to the meeting room urgently. Tony sighed to himself, walking back to the elevator and punching in the floor number. He waited impatiently for the elevator ride to end, before he stepped out and strode to the room. He entered, not bothering to knock, and made his way in. His brows furrowed when he found that Fisk wasn’t alone. He was sitting at the head of the table as usual, but there was a man sitting beside him, on his left side. Tony took the seat across from the stranger, on Fisk’s other side.

“Good morning, Mr. Stark.” Fisk greeted, formally.

“Morning.” Tony nodded, glancing briefly at the man in front of him.

He was wearing a gray shirt, covered with a thin waterproof jacket. He looked younger than him, but not by much; he could still see the white hairs here and there in the stubble that covered his cheeks. His dark hair was neatly combed to the side. His eyes were covered by a pair of dark shades, which confused Tony, because who on Earth wears sunglasses inside a room. Tension filled the air, slight uneasiness turning inside Tony the longer he stared at the guy.

“I hope I’m not asking too much of you by bringing you here on such a short notice.” Fisk apologized.

“It’s fine.” Tony assured, blinking in the process.

Fisk leaned forward in his seat, preparing to start talking. “As you already know, our Subjects will be here within a week.”

“And everything is almost ready, if that’s what you’re worried about. A week gives us plenty of time for a lot of things, actually.” Tony shook his head.

“I don’t doubt that you’re ready, Mr. Stark. In fact, I’m afraid, I’m about to ask too much of you, now.” He glanced shortly at the silent stranger next to him, before continuing.

“I have previously mentioned to you that we need someone to be responsible for the Subjects, secure them, and make sure that everything is going the way it should be.” Fisk addressed; his hands clasped together on the table as he spoke.

“And I’m assuming that’s him?” Tony nodded towards the unfazed man. 

Fisk’s lips quirked up a bit, “I’d like you to meet Mr. Matthew Murdock.” He referred to the man next to him.

Matthew smiled a small smile extending out his hand for Tony to shake.

Tony shook his hand back, “You already know who I am.” Tony shrugged, trying to sound nice.

“Of course.” The guy nodded, his smile not faltering.

“Mr. Murdock will briefly be working with you, providing you with any information you would need concerning the Subjects, and perhaps he could help you prepare until their arrival.” Fisk explained, looking at both of them.

Tony was bothered by the fact that Fisk kept referring to the kids they were bringing as ‘subjects’, as if they weren’t human beings who are more valuable than the three of them right now, but he decided to shrug it off.

“Good. Glad to have you aboard, Mr. Murdock.” Tony nodded in agreement. 

“Matt.” He corrected. “Just Matt.”

“Great! Another one that I can call by their first name in this building.” Tony exclaimed in joy. “Might lose the glasses now, Matt, since we’re dropping the formalities.” Tony joked.

But clearly, it was a horrible joke since both Fisk and Matt’s expressions changed to serious ones, leaving Tony feeling uncomfortable. He looked back and forth between them, confusion filling his mind. Matt shifted uncomfortably in his seat, adjusting his dark red glasses.

“Did I say something wrong?” He finally asked, breaking the awkward silence.

“Mr. Murdock has a vision disability.” Fisk cleared his throat. 

“You’re—” Tony looked at Matt, then back at Fisk. “ _He’s blind_?” 

Tony’s eyes were about to pop out of their eye sockets in disbelief.

“I can assure you that it won’t get in the way of our work.” Fisk looked at Tony, trying to convince him.

“You want to put the lives of those kids in _his hands_?” Tony’s voice slightly rose. He then glanced at Matt, “No offence, Mr. Murdock.”

“Please, none taken.” He confidently, yet calmly replied. 

Tony stared at him in shock, “Are you serious?”

“I believe there are other ways to see, Mr. Stark.” He spoke so steadily that it provoked Tony.

“Oh my god, you’re not even offended.” Tony shook his head.

“Why would I be? You pointing out my disability does not offend me. What offends me is that you’re underestimating how good I actually might be at my work.” He retorted, pointing at Tony.

“Why don’t you show Mr. Murdock where he will be working, Stark?” Fisk suggested, cutting off their short quarrel.

“Like I would know?” Tony scoffed, unable to contain his anger.

“You know very well.” Fisk smiled, standing up, Matt following. “Mr. Murdock will be working in the Advanced Science and Technology Department.” He announced, placing one his hands on Tony’s shoulder encouragingly.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Tony replied, wanting nothing more but to slap himself on the face.


	6. Chapter 6

“What business does he have in  _ my _ department?” Tony argued, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Mr. Murdock is as important as you are, Mr. Stark. You need his assistance.” Fisk pushed, his tone starting to be filled with impatience.

“I don’t need any help.” His stubbornness was wearing him out, and neither of the two men in front of him seemed to budge.

“Yes, you do, Tony.” Matt interfered, “You want to tell me, that you can handle each and every person of those candidates and what it will take to transport them to  _ your _ department, have them checked, track their health history, shall I go on?” Matt was slightly panting after he was done talking, showing a hint of anger.

Tony stayed silent, taken aback by Matt’s comeback at him. He wanted to argue back, and say that yes, he got it, but he couldn’t. No words came out. As much as he hated to admit it, the newcomer was right. He wouldn’t be able to overcome the steps of their next task, not with his whole team working at full capacity, and certainly not with giving Peter too much work to get done. He has been doing so much in the last few weeks, and he needed to rest before the arrivals of their candidates.

“Thought so.” Matt mocked in victory.

_ Of course _ . Tony thought to himself, rolling his eyes.

“Alright, gentlemen.” Fisk broke the silence. “I will let you two get to work.” He nodded at them.

“You, uh, you can wait outside. I’ll have a word with him.” Tony said to Matt. “Fisk?” He asked, motioning for him to step away from Matt, as Matt picked up his walking cane and walked towards the exit.

“Is there something I can do for you?” Fisk asked, looking down at Tony.

Fisk was way taller than Tony, that he had to slightly look up at him whenever they talked. “Yeah, remember Peter? I talked to you about him before.” He started.

“Of course!” Fisk acknowledged, “How can I forget him.” He smiled. “I’ve been pressuring him with too much work, lately, and—”

“You want me to give him some time off.” Fisk concluded.

Tony clapped his hands together, a grin on his face “That’s it, right there.”

“Why don’t you do it yourself, aren’t you his boss?” Fisk asked, a bit confused.

“I have tried, more than once.” Tony shook his head, looking down and running his hand across his forehead. “The kid’s just stubborn as hell. He doesn’t listen.”

  
Fisk chuckled, and Tony looked up at him in confusion. “What’s funny now?” He asked, slightly annoyed.

  
“Nothing. I just remembered someone who has the same frustrating trait.” He looked at him with something unreadable in his eyes.

Tony realized what he was hinting at, and he immediately let out a small laugh, shaking his head to himself. “Just do it, please, will you? And don’t tell him I had anything to do with it. He would practically kill me if he knew.” Tony warned.

“Of course.” Fisk reassured, nodding.

“Thank you.” Tony thanked him, and made his way out of the room, to face the rest of his day (that has barely begun) with the newly very friendly associate of his.

When he walked out of the room, he found Matt standing a few feet away from the door, resting his hands on his walking cane, waiting for him. He sighed to himself, walking towards the guy.

“Come on, this way.” Tony casually said, as soon as he reached where Matt was standing.

Matt followed in silence, walking beside him to the elevator. His cane was stretched out in his hand in front of him, clicking against the tiles as it hit the floor on either side of him while they walked.

They reached the elevator, the doors automatically sliding open for them. Tony voiced their floor number, and stood next to Matt who was looking forward the whole time, his posture calm, unflinching.

Tony glanced at him, then back at the silver doors of the elevator. “Just for the record, I’m not taking your help because I need it. I have my reasons.”

“Yeah, I know.” Matt shrugged, totally unbothered by Tony’s rude behavior towards him.

The elevator dung, the doors sliding open, revealing the busy working space.

“We’re here.” Tony sighed. “Did Fisk tell you where you will be uh, if you have an office or anything?” He asked.

“Yeah, he said that it was on the other side of the room, across from yours.” Matt frowned, remembering.

Tony’s eyes roamed the place, searching for the place Matt just mentioned, and he did spot a white door that matched his. How has he never noticed that office there, before?

“Found it.” Tony stated, making his way to that door, leading Matt.

As soon as they reached the door, Matt’s hand found its way to the door knob, twisting it. The door opened, revealing an office that wasn’t very different than Tony’s except for that his office was quite bigger than this one.

“Knock yourself out.” Tony excused himself and walked out of the man’s office.

“I’m sorry, there’s just one more thing.” Matt caught up to him.

“You want me to get you coffee now or what?” Tony asked, his tone full of sarcasm.

“I- that would be great,” Matt laughed. “But that’s not what I need.” He shook his head.

“Shoot then.” Tony encouraged.

“Since my work will be mostly practical, I will need a synopsis of all the entrances and exits in this building.” He stated.

“Of course.” Tony sighed. “You can pass by my office today and we can arrange that, I guess. It’s right across yours like Fisk told you.” He scheduled, taking it into consideration.

“Good.” He smiled half a smile. “Thank you.” He stepped back into his office, giving Tony the opportunity to leave.

Tony went to his office and sat down, resting his elbows on his desk with his head in his hands. He didn’t exactly hate Matt. He just hated the idea of someone watching him, let alone sharing almost every detail of his work. The guy did seem cocky, and too full of himself, but he was smart. That was proved to him every time Matt spoke up in the meeting room. It was like, every word he said, was calculated before it came out; unlike Tony who said whatever popped in his mind without thinking twice; it saves his ass. Or at least he thought it did. His door opened, a curious looking Peter walking in.

“Don’t even start.” Tony jokingly warned, pointing at Peter.

“That bad, huh?” Peter joked, plopping down on one of the armchairs in the room.

“It’s not that.” Tony sighed heavily, trying to find a way to speak out his next words as the realization just hit him.

“What is it then?” Peter rested a hand on his cheek.

“He has a big mouth just like your old man, here.” He buried his face in his hands.

“Oooh,” Peter blew in surprise. “That’s interesting. I can’t wait to hear you two screaming at each other from the end of the hall.” He laughed.

“I know.” Tony smirked, already imagining that happening today.

“Seriously, though.” Peter stood up and walked towards him. “It sounds like you two will be working together a lot. He was given an office, just like you.” He pointed at where Matt’s study was now.

“No, no. Mine is way bigger than his.” Tony joked.

“Sure.” Peter rolled his eyes. “What will he be doing anyway? And who is he?”

“His name is Matthew Murdock; he will be the one responsible for the candidates.” Tony explained, the sentence still sounding foreign to his ears.

“That’s good then!” Peter exclaimed. “That means you don’t have to be up- to-your-eyeballs busy anymore.”

  
“Not you, too.” Tony face palmed himself, tired of hearing the same sentence over and over.

“Look, I, out of all people know how much you hate having someone interfering in your business, but Tony, you do need his help.” Peter said, trying his hardest to convince him.

Deep down, he knew he was right. He knew they were all right, and one way or another he has to accept that he is not on his own anymore. Who knows, he might be of real help after all, and just wanted to leave an impression.

“Fine.” Tony threw his hands up in surrender, “I won’t try to bash his head through a wall.” He joked.

“There you go.” Peter smiled. “I’ll leave you to what you were doing, I just wanted to check on you and see how things went.” He admitted, walking back to the door.

“Thanks, Peter.” He smiled at him, as he saw him getting out, shutting the door behind him.

A couple of hours passed and Tony was still working in his office where Peter left him. A knock on the door broke his gaze from his work.

“Come in.” He said, leaning back in his seat.

The door was pushed open, revealing who was knocking. Matt walked in, pushing the door back with his foot, as he carried two cups of coffee in his hand and the other was occupied with his cane. Tony instantly got up, and rushed to take the cups from him. 

“Thought you would need some.” Matt smiled handing him one.

“Yeah, thank you.” Tony thanked him, awkwardly going back to where he was sitting, placing his cup on the coaster on his desk.

Matt followed, finding his way to the chair that was situated next to Tony’s desk. He sat down, resting his cane against the glass surface, his own cup of coffee in his hand. Awkward silence filled the air between them, probably each of them trying to find something to say to break the ice.

“How—”

“So—”

They both spoke at the same time, cutting each other off. Matt grinned while Tony chuckled to himself. “You first.” Tony gestured for him to start talking.

“It’s fine, really. Go ahead.” Matt argued.

“Alright, then. How did you find your way here?” Tony asked, taking a sip from his hot drink.

“It wasn’t me. They found me. Just like they did with you, I guess.” Matt answered rather hesitantly.

“You went missing, too?” Tony teased.

“Oh, no no.” Matt shook his head, a grin on his face. “They sent their men.” He explained.

“I see.” Tony stared down at the steaming cup in his hand, both of them going silent again.

“Which part are you from?” Tony asked, sounding curious.

“New York; born and raised.” Matt said, placing down his cup on the desk.

“’Guess we’re not as different as I thought after all.” Tony admitted, finding himself gradually losing his grudge against his associate.

“Yeah.” Matt smiled. “Shall we start?” He asked, adjusting the glasses that rested on the bridge of his nose, covering his eyes.

“Sure. We just need to walk over there.” Tony said, standing up and pointing to the round table that sat in the middle of his office. He then realized that Matt couldn’t see that he was pointing, so he went over to where he was sitting, “There’s a round table a couple of feet away.” He described, waiting for Matt to stand up.

He nodded, standing up. “You don’t, you don’t have to guide me if you want.” Matt chuckled.

“Describing is fine.” He continued.

“Sure about that?” Tony asked, surprised.

“Yeah.” Matt assured, walking beside him, leaving his cane where it is.

They both stood on either side of the table, Tony operating the image of the whole WCKD premises he saw when he first entered his personal working space.

  
“I have a digital image of the building displayed before me.” Tony started, scanning for entrances and exits. “I don’t need to tell you that they’re nearly countless, right?”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” Matt rested one of his hands on his hip.

“I can’t just stand here and count them for you, it might take quite a time.” He spun the three-hundred-and-sixty-degree image with his fingers as he spoke.

“Do you have something in mind?” Matt asked, shifting onto one foot, crossing his arms over his chest. He was now wearing his gray shirt, having taken off his jacket earlier.

Tony scratched his head, “Not at the moment. I didn’t think this through.”

“It’s alright, neither did I.” Matt uncrossed his arms, looking around.

“I can make you a copy with an audio reader or something.” Tony mentioned one of the ideas that occurred to him.

“You can do that?” He sounded rather surprised.

“Your turn to underestimate me now, Murdock?” Tony smirked, crossing his arms.

“Oh, no.” Matt chuckled. “I was just—never mind.” He waved off his hand, indicating that it was better to drop the subject.

“Admiring my work, I know.” Tony teased, pretending to be flattered.

“Sure.” Matt nodded sarcastically, and Tony could tell he has just rolled his eyes behind the glasses that covered his eyes.

“All jokes aside, though.” Tony cleared his throat. “I’ll have it handed to you maybe after lunch? Two hours from now, maximum.” He tapped the edge of the table with both his forefingers.

“I’ll be waiting.” Matt nodded in approval.

“Lunch is held at the main hall on this floor, by the way. You’ll know when it’s time.” Tony informed him, remembering how dumb he looked on his first day when he chased after Peter and asked him what was happening.

  
“Is that an invitation for me to have lunch with you?” Matt snickered; his eyebrows arched over his shades.

  
“Suit yourself, Murdock.” Tony turned his back to him, walking back to his desk, trying to suppress a smile.

He heard Matt laugh, following him back to where they were sitting. He picked up his cane, his empty cup, and walked out of the office. Tony was surprised at how well their first ‘meeting’ went. Matt seemed really cooperative, and was willing to do his job and no more. Tony could have sworn that this wasn’t the same guy he met with Fisk, hours ago. He knew that he provoked him earlier, _on his very first day_ , and he was starting to feel a little bit guilty for treating him like shit the whole morning.

A few minutes after Matt left, Peter came in. He didn’t look neither excited nor curious. His face held an angry scowl, and Tony sort of knew what was bothering Peter. It was confirmed when he spoke up.

“Nice try,  _ Mr. Stark _ .” Peter had his arms firmly crossed over his chest, his muscles twitching.

“Peter,” Tony sighed his name, already tired of getting out of one conversation into the other.

“You really think I’m  _ that _ stupid? Why would Mr. Fisk suddenly call me up and ask me to take a ‘temporary leave’ all of a sudden?” Peter scoffed, taking a step closer to his desk, with every word he said.

It’s the first time he has seen him this angry.

“So, what? I did talk to Fisk, yes—” Tony admitted.

“I’m not doing it.” Peter blinked, shaking his head in disapproval.

“I’m sorry, what?” Anger made its way into Tony’s blood, causing him to stand up, clearly catching Peter off guard because he stepped back in surprise. He quickly regained his composure, his small brown eyes staring at him in anger and disappointment.

“Have you seen the bags under your eyes? Peter, your eye sockets are starting to show from how hollow your eyes look. You need to rest.” He spat, losing his comfort tone.

“No, I don’t!” Peter argued back.

“Listen, kid, I will not watch you overwork yourself, until you black out one day from sleep deprivation. I can’t have that on my shoulders.” Tony warned, his voice a lot calmer than before.

“This is where I feel like myself the most. Here, working with you.” He looked around, uncrossing his arms and pointing at him. Tony could see Peter’s eyes glossy, and his hands shook as he gestured around them. “Not in some fancy suite apartment watching TV and doing god knows what for  _ a whole week, _ because my boss thinks that I need a break. The only time I need in that apartment is for sleep, and that is something  _ I _ get to decide, not you.” He let the arm he was pointing at him with, fall loosely by his side.

Tony stood speechless, unable to say a word against Peter’s. He watched as he gulped, “So, you can push me away all you want, but I’ll just keep coming back.” He shrugged, his eyes pleading for Tony to agree with him.

Tony looked down, pinching the bridge of his nose, hoping from the bottom of his heart that he doesn’t regret this decision later.

“Don’t use the puppy eyes look on me, Peter Parker.” He warned, earning a small smile from him. “Alright, fine.” Tony agreed, watching as Peter’s eyes lit up in happiness.

“Thank you so much!” Peter squealed, jumping onto him, taking him into a bear hug.

“Woah, slow down there.” Tony chuckled, wrapping his arms around Peter’s fairly smaller figure.

“Alright, you can let go now, drama queen.” Tony joked, patting his back.

“Sorry.” Peter pulled away, rubbing the back of his neck, his cheeks tinted with a shade of red.

“Hey,” Tony called. 

“Yeah?” He looked up at him.

“Don’t you ever storm your way in like that, _or_ use that tone again with me, Dexter.” Tony teased, playfully punching his shoulder.

“Can you blame me?” He pushed, a smile making its way to his lips.

“Alright, I did take it a bit too far, but you can’t blame me, too.” Tony shrugged, eyeing him.

“No, you were partially right.” Peter admitted, looking at him in admiration.

  
“I always am.” Tony mocked, knowing that Peter would probably roll his eyes at him, and he did, laughing afterwards.

“So, how did your meeting go with this Matthew Murdock?” Peter asked.

“It went well. Actually, you’re becoming a distraction, Dex. I have something to work on and have it done before lunch.” Tony joked.

“What is it?” Peter insisted, peeking at him through his curious eyes.

“You can’t just leave me alone, can you?” Tony remarked.

“Never.” Peter shook his head, pulling off a proud expression.

“Well, since he will be transporting the candidates and stuff, he asked me to inform him with all the exits and entrances in this building and provide him with some kind of a map.” Tony explained, clasping his hands together.

“Woah.” Peter’s lips parted, shaping an ‘O’ in surprise. “But, what do you need to work on, in that?” He asked, confusion written on his face.

“He’s uh, I need to make him something like an audio reader so he has access to what he wants to know.” He anticipated Peter’s reaction when he figured out what he meant.

“Why- wait,  _ he’s blind _ ?” Peter’s eyes widened.

“Yeah.” Tony confirmed, glancing uncomfortably at the door across him. “He seems to hold himself up well, though. He didn’t stumble once.” He remembered their brief interactions today.

“That’s a good thing, right?” Peter inquired.

“Supposedly, yeah. I mean, if Fisk saw otherwise, he wouldn’t have hired him in the first place.” Tony thought out loud.

“You’re right.” Peter stared at him.

“Told ya.” He teased again, a full grin on his face.

“You had to say it.” Peter shook his head, a full smile shaping his lips. 

  
He watched as Peter stood up, “I’ll see you around.” He shoved his hands in the pockets of his white lab coat, smiling a small smile at him.

“See you, Dex.” Tony winked, earning another grin from Peter.

The rest of the day went by, Tony spent his lunch break with Peter and Michelle as usual. He spotted Matt there, but he didn’t bother to invite him over to sit with them. Neither Peter nor Michelle knew him, besides, Tony still didn’t know anything about him. He finished the synopsis Matt asked for, and was now on his way to give it to him. He stood in front of the door, taking a deep breath before he knocked.

“Come in.” He heard Matt call from inside.

Tony listened to him and entered the room, walking over to where he was seated behind his desk.

“Here,” Tony sat the flash drive on the desk not far from where Matt’s hand was. “You will find everything you need on it.”

“Sorry for making you do this; you didn’t need to.” Matt took the flash drive, flipping it into his hand.

“No, it’s fine.” Tony rubbed the back of his neck, awkwardly. 

“Thank you, Tony.” He smiled, dimples showing on both his cheeks.

“No problem.” Tony nodded. “Stark at your service.” He sarcastically remarked, shifting the awkward atmosphere into a lighter one.

Matt chuckled, joking along with him “What an honor.”

“Working hours are almost finished, you should get going.” Tony informed him.

“Yeah, I was about to.” Matt nodded, standing up. “I guess I’ll see you?”

“Do I have another option?” Tony retorted.

Matt stayed silent, a grin that matched Tony’s on his face as well. Tony turned to leave, when he remembered something. “Oh, and Murdock?”

“Yeah?” He looked up; his face serious.

“It was an invitation for you to have lunch with me.” Tony clicked his tongue, humor laced with his voice.

“I know.” Matt smiled, shortly raising his eyebrows at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two updates overnight yay! Hope you’re enjoying so far because you have no idea what’s coming for you (evil smile) Your feedback would be much appreciated! :)


	7. Chapter 7

Two days later, Tony was informed that the Biology Department has finished what he asked them to do. Today he was going to give his idea a try, and see what happens. He managed to stay quiet about it, to surprise Peter with it, as he knew he would love to work on something as crazy as that idea was. Besides, even if it didn’t work, seeing him in the lab with his goggles (that were too big for his face) would be worth it. He smiled to himself at the image, trying to contain his excitement.

He was getting along well with Matt. They would meet occasionally during the day to discuss their upcoming work, and Tony was pleased with how committed Matt was. He couldn’t believe it when he told him that he memorized almost all the information Tony gave him two days ago. Tony hasn’t introduced Matt to Peter yet, he was waiting for the right time, when all three of them wouldn’t be this busy. They have assigned rooms with countless of beds to keep the kids at, until the required tests were made. Matt told Tony that he will be providing him with the personal data files of the candidates, where their health and medical history are recorded, along with any information he might need to know before they start prepping them.

As for him, he has been trying to come up with something that would help them get access to what would be going on with each and every person out on the field, until he narrowed it down to his current project. Tracker chips. He has been working on tracker chips that would allow them to have access to everything the candidates experience. He has just placed down the last one, sighing in relief. They were so close to starting the real work, and Tony couldn’t help but feel nervous at the thought of having to face those kids before sending them out there. The actual Maze construction wasn’t very far from here. He remembered Matt telling him something about it being connected to this building, somehow, but he couldn’t remember any details.

Tony stored the newly finished chips somewhere in his office, making sure that no one else could lay a hand on them except for him. It was two in the afternoon, and he needed to update Matt with what he has achieved so far, and see what he was up to, as well. He went to Matt’s room, knocking first, letting him know that he was coming in, before he entered and shut the door behind him.

“Hey.” Matt nodded towards him, motioning for him to sit down.

“Thought I’d stop by and fill you in on what has been going on, so far.” Tony sat down, resting his arm on the edge of Matt's desk.

“I’m all ears.” He smiled, taking off his shades, revealing his glassy eyes.

“I’ve finished working on the chips, and the trials are almost done. I have only one experiment to sort out, which should be done today.” Tony informed, looking forward to finishing the rest of his work.

“That’s good news. I have received the files of the candidates today; I should drop them off at your office tomorrow.” Matt replied, arranging some files on his desk and setting them aside. 

“Do you think you’ll have enough time to study them before I bring them in?” Matt asked, sounding worried.

“Yeah, yeah.” Tony nodded, hoping his confidence in himself doesn’t betray him.

“I can help, you know.” Matt offered, straightening out his dark red tie.

Tony raised his eyes, “You’re well aware that they’re not written in braille, right?”

“Yes, Tony.” Matt chuckled, obviously aware of what Tony was saying. “I’m just letting you know that I’m here, if _god forbid,_ you needed help.” He joked.

“I’m sure we’ll figure it out.” Tony tapped his hand on the desk, getting up.

“Yeah.” Matt assured, standing up, resting his hands on his hips. “Leaving already?”

“Yeah, gotta sort out some things before the break. Will probably stay stuck in the lab today with Peter.” He said as he walked towards the door, resting his hand on the door handle.

“The remaining trial, huh?” Matt smiled, pointing at him.

“Not bad, Murdock.” Tony winked, and then remembered that Matt couldn’t see that. “I just winked, by the way.”

“Yeah, I guessed so.” Matt’s lips curved into a full smile, revealing his aligned teeth.

“See you tomorrow, then.” Tony smiled back, opening the door and leaving.

He went to the lab that has been fully set up for him, and checked everything, making sure nothing was missing. He smiled to himself in satisfaction, then went back to his office, waiting for the time to pass while working. The clock struck three, and Tony raced to the main hall, spotting Peter and Michelle. He sat down, greeting both of them.

“Meet me in Lab-133 today, after you’re done eating.” Tony pointed at Peter, making sure he remembers the number.

“What is it?” Peter’s eyes shone with excitement.

“I’m not telling you.” Tony playfully wiggled his eyebrows at him.

“That’s not fair.” Michelle whined. “How come I spend the whole day sitting on my ass, and you two get all the fun.” She huffed, tucking a hair strand behind her ear.

“That’s what you get for choosing biology over science and technology.” Peter teased in a child-like manner.

“Biology _is_ a branch of science, dumbass.” Michelle rolled her eyes.

“I don’t see you working with Tony Stark.” Peter smiled a prideful smile.

“Whatever.” Michelle waved him off, sending Peter into a wave of muffled giggles next to him.

They spent the rest of their break talking about the progress each one of them was making, and they were all satisfied with what they were doing, except for that Michelle mentioned that things have been a little hectic at their department, and that they were all being pressured to work extra hours. Tony assured her that it could be because of the upcoming changes, and that it would eventually go back to how things were, although, he didn’t know what could her department be pressured into doing at this time? As far as he was concerned, most of the trials had to do with his field, and not any other.

After lunch, Tony went straight to the lab and waited for Peter by the door. Minutes later, he saw Peter approaching him.

“Curiosity is eating me alive.” He laughed, as soon as he was close enough to reach Tony’s hearing range.

“I know. It’s what you do for a living.” He grabbed his shoulders, “Come on, I’ve got something for you.” He turned him, making him face the door.

“Let’s go, then.” He could hear the glee in his voice from where he stood behind him.

“Open the door.” Tony urged, letting go of his shoulders after patting them encouragingly.

Peter proceeded, revealing the dimly blue-lit room. He heard Peter gasp in surprise, stepping into the space, his eyes looking around him in awe.

“Wow, Tony, I—”

“The fun is only beginning.” Tony smiled, walking ahead of Peter, and standing in the middle of the room, motioning to the countless spiders spread across different lab tables.

“What are we doing?” Peter asked with a suspicious smile on his face.

  
“We,” Tony pointed at both of them. “Are going to turn these little creatures, into radioactive spiders.” He introduced, watching Peter’s reaction.

“No way!” He gaped. “That’s possible?” He squealed in amazement, causing Tony to grin.

“Well, we’re here to find out.” He shrugged, walking over to one of the tables. “But as far as I know, for some species, yes. It is possible.” He remembered what Jarvis informed him of.

“I can’t believe this.” Peter breathed, eyes staring at the different shaped spiders around him, the blue light highlighting his wide smile.

“We don’t have all day, Dexter, get to work.” Tony clapped his hands together, loud enough to snap Peter out of his trance.

“Yeah, right.” He shook his head, walking over next to him.

“How do I start?” He asked, rubbing his hands together in excitement.

—

He was passing by the door, when something caught his attention, stopping him in his tracks.

“Ah!” He heard him wince, pain evident in his voice.

“You alright, there?” Tony’s voice echoed, addressing Peter.

“Yeah,” Peter hesitated. “All good.”

He heard his heartbeats sky-rocketing all of a sudden, his breathing too fast for him to handle. He could smell the faint smell of blood mixed with sweat that was running down the back of his neck the longer he stood in there.

“I uhm, I’m gonna go wash up.” Peter said, abruptly, heading towards the door.

Matt reacted quickly, taking a couple of steps away from the door, making sure his back was to Peter. He heard him stumble into the bathroom, at the end of the hall. He waited a few seconds, before he raced after him, making his way in there. He found Peter sprawled across the cold tiles of the bathroom, unconscious. He picked him up and dragged him into one of the stalls, shutting the door so no one could see him. He stood there, panting, his mind racing with too many thoughts. The first one was to go get Tony, right now.

—

Tony was in the middle of a procedure, watching the progress slowly starting to show, the creature glowing in result. The door to the lab burst open, revealing Matt who stood in the door way with an unreadable expression on his face.

“You need to come with me, now.” His voice was stern, almost demanding.

“Not now, Murdock.” He replied, not breaking his gaze from what he was doing. He knew he was busy, so why now, out of all times would he ask for a couple of minutes?

“Get off your ass, and come with me now.” He repeated, his voice slightly rising in volume.

“I’m kind of in the middle of something, here?” Tony snapped, finally looking at him. His shirt was somewhat creased, the hem of it hanging out from his pants, which was unusual for a man who dressed well like Matt.

Matt took a deep breath, looking down in hesitance, before looking back up at him and dropping the next words. “Tony, it’s Peter.”

His mind froze, giving him no chance to think about anything. Unlike his mind that froze at Matt’s words, his body refused to stay where it was as his feet carried him to where Matt was standing. As soon as Tony was close, Matt left, walking towards the bathroom, where Peter has mentioned that he was going. Tony couldn’t think of anything, his heart raced in his chest, not knowing what he could possibly find in there. But it definitely wasn’t good.

Matt stepped in before Tony, locking the door behind him. Tony looked at Matt in confusion, but the confusion instantly disappeared when his eyes laid on a pair of feet that were seen from under the door. Panic and fear arose inside him, making him feel like he could pass out at any second. He didn’t want to open that door; he didn’t want to see what was there behind it. With a shaky hand, he opened the door, and he felt his whole body shake at the scene. He found Peter situated on the toilet seat, his body limp, eyes closed. He slowly approached him, taking a closer look. Sweat was covering his forehead, his hair slightly damp.

“What happened?” His voice shook with fright.

“I don’t know, I just walked in, and found him unconscious on the floor.” Matt answered, his voice heavy.

“God,” He looked away. “He was okay, he was just fine. What happened?” His voice raised when he asked his question.

His hand went up to Peter’s damp forehead, “His skin is burning.” He concluded, after feeling his cheeks, and his hands.

“Check his pulse.” Matt said, standing on Peter’s other side.

Tony listened to Matt, his fingers finding their way to Peter’s neck. He felt it hammering against his fingers at an alarming rate, which only made him feel worse.

“Tony, calm down.” Matt calmly said.

“Don’t tell me to fucking calm down.” He hissed, not processing what Matt was saying.

“Try to remember if anything unusual happened.” He pushed.

Tony shook his head, mentally squeezing his brain to remember anything. “Nothing happened, we were working and—” He paused, an awful memory replaying itself in his mind.

“Tony, what happened?” Matt asked, concerned.

He didn’t answer, too busy searching Peter’s clothes, looking for any proof to what occurred to him.

“Search him carefully with me, alright?” He got to his knees, his hands slowly shaking Peter’s clothes. His anger increased the longer he searched and found nothing.

“Tony,” Matt called, his voice worried.

Tony’s eyes shifted from Peter’s body to Matt’s concerned face. “Was this always here?” He held Peter’s head in his hands, slightly leaning him forward.

Tony rose to his feet, looking where Matt was pointing. His thoughts were confirmed when he looked at the back of Peter’s neck.

“No,” He whispered. He found a red swollen spot right at the nape of Peter’s neck, two red dots surrounded by dry blood found in the middle of the swollen area.

“Tony, speak.” Matt snapped him out of his short wave of panic.

“He was—there’s a bite on his neck.” Tony said, not believing what he was saying.

“A bite?” Matt frowned.

“A radioactive spider just bit him.” Tony admitted, the sentence crushing his heart.

“You—”

“Because of me.” Tony whispered, his eyes darting down to the unconscious kid between him and Matt.

“This is not the time to blame yourself. We need to act fast.” Tony knew Matt was right, but right now, after discovering the reason behind Peter’s current state, he couldn’t move.

“If you don’t move now—”

“We can’t, we can’t go out like that. No one can see him, not with cameras on our tail everywhere.” He said, gaining more strength.

“I know a way out.” Matt assured.

“Where to?” Tony asked, confused.

“We need to take him somewhere unwatched. Most probably somewhere where you could examine him, right?” Matt explained, already on his way to open the door.

Tony nodded in confirmation, looking again at Peter, before picking him up, carrying him in his arms. He didn’t care about anything right now. He didn’t care that he struggled to walk as fast as he could with Peter unconscious in his arms. He didn’t care that his arms and legs screamed at him from the weight he was putting on them. He only followed Matt’s lead, and hoped with every fiber in his body, that it wasn’t too late to do something. They slipped through backdoors and hallways that Tony never knew they existed, and it nagged at him that Matt knew about these places, but right now, this wasn’t his focus. Peter’s safety was.

They reached a room that seemed unknown to Tony. It looked more like a storage room, but the space was quite big, like everything in this building was. He carefully laid Peter down on a metal table, careful not to hurt him.

“How is his pulse?” Matt asked, once he shut the door.

Tony checked again, relieved when he found that it had slowed down than before.

“Better.” He gulped, closing his eyes for a brief second.

He heard Matt approach him, placing his hand on Peter’s forehead, checking his temperature. “It’s not as high as it was, minutes ago.” He stated, his eyebrows deeply furrowed over his glasses.

“I don’t—I don’t understand. This shouldn’t be happening.” Tony shook his head. “I don’t know the symptoms but they’re not supposed to look like that!” He shouted, remembering very clearly that Jarvis said that the bites of these spiders do not threaten vital conditions, but what was happening now was the exact opposite.

“I shouldn’t have let him do this. I shouldn’t have.” Tony blinked back tears that were threatening to form in his eyes.

“Stop blaming yourself.” Matt repeated his words, more sternly this time.

“Can you, uh, watch over him for a few minutes? I’ll be right back.” Tony announced, solutions starting to build up in his mind, as a result of letting Matt’s words sink into his mind.

“Of course. Go.” Matt pushed him forward, urging him to go.

He sprung to his office, grabbing his controllers, and everything else he might need that would help him in figuring out what was happening to Peter, and why it was happening. He stopped by the lab they were working at earlier, looking for any missing spiders. He let Jarvis scan the area, and he did find one missing.

“Jarv?” Tony breathed, his heart pounding in his chest.

“ _The missing spider is the Steatoda nobilis, sir_.”

“Where is it?” He stepped further into the room, careful that there was nothing on the floor that he would crush.

“ _I found it behind the door. It is dead_.” His AI system replied.

He didn’t know whether he should feel relieved or devastated at what he heard. Relieved that the spider was dead, and couldn’t do any more damage to anyone, or devastated at the fact that what he let Peter work with, ended up hurting him. He shook these thoughts away, and focused back on getting to Peter as fast as he could. He went back to the room Matt led them to, and his heart fell when he found that Peter was the same as he left him.

“Found anything?” Matt asked.

“Yeah. I found the spider that bit him. It’s dead.” He said, putting on his controllers, and re-activating Jarvis.

“That’s good, right?” He motioned with his hand in a questioning manner.

“Nothing about this is good, Murdock.” He sighed. “Let’s just hope this works.” He waved his hand across Peter’s body, waiting for Jarvis to respond.

“I want to know what’s going on. Fill me in on everything you find.” Tony retreated his hand, watching as a live scan of Peter’s body was being displayed before him.

“ _Vital conditions are functioning, all organs active_.”

“Good. What else?” He nodded, eyes roaming what is happening.

“ _Something peculiar is happening, sir._ ”

“What is it?” Tony felt like he could jump out of his skin any moment now.

“ _His cells. Their activity is unusual_.”

“Is it bad?” Tony’s voice slightly shook.

“ _No, they’re functioning well. Abnormal wel_ _l_.”

Tony’s forehead creased. “What do you mean?”

“ _It looks like the body was exposed to a foreign substance that involved an amount of radiation. As I speak, the cells are doubling at a high speed, and there are major changes taking place in the formation of his DNA_.”

“Oh god.” Tony rubbed his forehead, trying to ease his mind.

“ _I see that this is something good, sir. The body’s response to the radiation is fascinating. No harm is found_.”

“Then why the hell is he still unconscious?!” Tony yelled, losing his nerve.

“ _It’s the brain’s natural reaction to any sudden changes, sir. He should be up in a few seconds, as his body is stabilizing now_.”

“This is unbelievable.” He whispered to himself.

“ _Do you need anything else, Mr. Stark?_ ”

“No, thanks, Jarv.” He answered, shutting down his AI system and looking down at Peter.

“What have I done?” He asked out loud, not knowing if he wanted to hear an answer to that question.


	8. Chapter 8

His words lingered in the air, silence becoming too uncomfortable for his own liking. He could sense that Matt, too, was nervous as he stood across him. Tony’s eyes stayed fixed on Peter; whose hands haven’t even twitched in the slightest bit yet. The longer his eyes stayed closed, the more he worried.

“Tony, he’s okay. You heard it yourself.” Matt rested his hands on the edge of the table, slightly leaning forward.

“Until I hear it from him, no. He’s not okay.” Tony refused, glancing at Matt then back at Peter.

Matt sighed in defeat, turning around and walking further into the space. Tony threw his head back, squeezing his eyes shut in exhaustion. He stayed like that for a few seconds, letting the brief moment of physical comfort sink in. He felt something nudge his hand that was rested next to one of Peter’s legs, and his head instantly snapped towards Peter’s direction. Matt came rushing back from where he was, probably after hearing the faint groan that escaped Peter’s throat. He started moving, eyes slowly fluttering open. Tony stepped closer to Peter’s upper body, sitting down on the edge of the metal surface next to him.

Peter sat up slightly, putting his weight onto his elbows. He looked around him, eyes full of confusion.

“Hey, hey.” Tony said softly, in order not to scare him. “You’re okay.” He ran his hand up and down his tense shoulder.

“Tony?” He uttered; his voice raspy from the lack of speaking. The confusion he saw in Peter’s eyes were replaced by relief, the second his eyes landed on him.

“What happened?” He frowned, struggling to fully sit up.

“You don’t remember anything?” Tony asked, helping him sit properly.

Peter’s eyes stared into the distance, probably trying to remember, before he shook his head. “No, I—the last thing I remember was that I was standing over the sink, and then I started to feel crazy dizzy.” He looked down at his feet, before he raised his head back up “And then everything went black.”

“Are you okay now?” He heard Matt ask. “Is there anything that is hurting you?”

“Yeah, I’m okay, I guess.” He answered, eyeing Matt.

“Matt was the one who found you.” Tony informed Peter, before question marks start to appear all over his face.

“Oh, I um,” Peter struggled to form the right words.

“It’s okay, don’t say anything right now.” Tony saw Matt smiling at him, resting his hand on the back of Peter’s neck.

Peter flinched, his hand quickly swatting Matt’s away.

“What’s wrong?” Matt asked, waiting for Peter to answer. Tony had no idea what was going on, before he remembered. He stood up, and made his way behind Peter.

“Here, let me see.” Tony urged, Peter listening to him and withdrawing his hand from where it was.

Tony took a second look at the injured part he and Matt saw earlier, and his eyes went wide. It was way smaller than when he first saw it, the spot where the spider’s fangs sank into his skin, almost disappearing. Then he remembered Jarvis’ words about Peter’s cells doubling themselves at a higher speed than normal.

“Tony? What’s happening?” Peter asked, his voice full of worry.

Tony let go of him, and went back to where Peter was sitting, facing him. Matt stayed in his position across Tony, standing next to Peter.

He took a deep breath before speaking, “Something happened in the lab, while we were working, but you probably don’t remember.”

Peter stared at him, intently listening. Tony didn’t know how to say his next words. He didn’t know how to tell him that this happened because of him. “One of the spiders we were working on, somehow found its way to you, and—”

“It bit me.” Peter continued for him. His hand went up to his neck again, feeling it softly. “I felt something, like a sting, but I never found anything, so I thought it was nothing.” He shrugged.

Peter’s hand dropped, a look of anticipation clouding his eyes. “Was it—was it radioactive?”

“Yeah.” Tony whispered, his heart churning.

“ _But_ ,” Matt interfered, startling both of them. “You’re okay. Tony made sure you are.” He pointed towards Tony.

“What do you mean?” Peter’s brows furrowed, glancing at both of them.

“I let Jarvis scan you, and we found nothing wrong.” He shrugged, but Peter still sat clueless.

“Nothing bad, I mean.” He emphasized, trying to assure him. 

“What did you find?” Peter asked calmly.

“Your body reacted to the venom of the spider in a different way. A good one.” Tony explained. “Your cells are working insanely fast and your DNA witnessed some changes.”

He watched Peter gape at him the whole time he was talking, “That’s all what Jarvis mentioned, but I’ll have to run more tests.” Tony shook his head, making sure he knows everything that happened because of that bite.

“That’s impossible.” Peter finally whispered, his eyes staring at him.

“Nothing is impossible when it comes to science, kid. You, out of all people, know that.” Tony smiled, referring to him.

Peter smiled back, “Right.”

“Peter, are you sure you don’t feel anything unusual? Any pain? Any mild discomfort?” Matt asked, resting his hand on his hip.

“The kid’s alright, Murdock, what’s—”

“Actually, there is something.” Peter cut Tony off for the second time, glancing at him uncomfortably.

“What is it, Peter? It’s okay, you can tell me.” Matt assured him.

Tony had no idea what was happening, but as long as he was nice to Peter, and as long as Peter was okay, he didn’t mind.

“There’s this constant buzzing.” He said, pointing at his ear. “It’s like, I can hear everything clearer.” He frowned, looking around him.

Matt pursed his lips, looking at Peter in deep thought. “Can you get up?” He asked.

“Yeah, yeah.” Peter nodded.

“Hey, easy.” Tony warned Matt, glancing at Peter.

Peter looked at him with a smile, “Tony, it’s fine. I’m okay.”

That sounded like music to his ears. He felt relieved, knowing that Peter was alright. Yet, he didn’t show it right away. He nodded, and stepped back from the table, giving Peter room to hop down. He gripped the edge of the table, setting his feet on the ground. Tony’s eyes followed him as he took a couple steps away from where he was lying, and towards Matt.

“Shit.” Tony muttered, his eyes examining the place where Peter’s hands were. 

Peter and Matt’s attention shifted to Tony, “What’s wrong?” Matt asked, alarmed.

“What the hell?” Tony watched as Peter turned around, looking shocked at what Tony was referring to.

“Was this—Did I just do this?” He breathed, looking up at Tony, disbelief written all over his face, before he stared at his hands that were slightly shaking.

Matt made his way past Peter, his hands tracing the bent metal that Peter’s hands dug.

“I didn’t mean to—” Peter started, but Matt interrupted him.

“Clearly the bite didn’t just improve your metabolism and vital functions. It improved all of your senses. It explains why you said you can hear clearer, and how your physical strength just doubled up.” Matt explained, while Tony listened carefully.

What Matt said made perfect sense. But, he didn’t know whether he should be happy or scared about this. He’s happy that Peter’s fine, far more than fine, but no one can know about this. He can’t walk around with these newly gained powers, or gifts, whatever they were. It could end his career any second, along with Tony’s. The less people knew about this, the better.

“No one can know about this.” Tony spoke out his thoughts.

“Of course.” Matt instantly agreed.

“What about MJ?” Peter asked, looking at Tony with pleading eyes. “I—I can’t hide anything like that from her, and she’ll instantly notice.” He shook his head.

“No one, Peter.” Matt warned again.

“It’s alright, we can trust her.” Tony defended, watching from the corner of his eye, Peter’s face light up a bit.

Matt sighed, “Fine. There’s one more thing, though.” He adjusted the hem of his pants, taking a deep breath before he spoke up.

“You need to control your senses and your strength. You can’t walk around bending metal and breaking glass at the slightest touch like that.” Matt explained, pointing at both of Peter’s hands.

“Yeah, that’s one thing we should worry about.” Tony pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to come up with a solution.

“No, you don’t actually.” Matt said. “I can help with that.”

Tony scoffed, not knowing how to answer. How would _he_ be of any help to Peter?

Matt chuckled bitterly, throwing his hands in the air. “Unbelievable.”

“Excuse me?” Tony stepped forward, Peter standing in the middle between him and Matt.

“Stop. Stop this, don’t fight right now.” Peter begged, slightly urging Tony to back away.

“Matt will help, and we need to figure out how we’re going to do this, and where.” Peter pointed at them both.

They stood silent, Tony realising that Peter was right. This wasn’t the time to start picking at each other like they do sometimes. They needed to figure out how to cover this up. Tony looked at Matt, clearing his throat before he spoke. “I might know a few things.” He said, focusing back on their situation.

“Me too.” Matt answered, his tone calmer than before.

Tony saw Peter’s lips curve into a small smile from his peripheral vision.

**

It was late at night, and Tony was sitting in his office with his head in his hands. His eyes stared at the dead creature lying on his desk. After Jarvis had found it today, Tony had it kept in his office. He didn’t know why he kept it, but there it was; a reminder of a day that neither he, nor Peter would never forget. He rubbed his eyes, exhaling a deep breath he didn’t know he was holding. His door opened, Matt entering. He sat down, letting out a deep breath as well.

“It’s all sorted.” Matt announced.

“Good.” Tony nodded, feeling relieved.

“You kept it, didn’t you?” Matt nodded towards him, looking down.

Tony chuckled, “You caught me.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Tony.” He said, sounding more serious.

“How do you know that?” He frowned. “I’ve been _planning_ for this.” He threw his hands frantically in the air.

“But you didn’t know that this would happen.” He argued. 

“Still.” Tony held his ground, refusing to agree.

“I know you won’t be convinced, anyway, but I needed to let you hear it.” He tapped his hand on the desk once, standing up.

“I’ll see you, tomorrow.” He turned around, making his way back to the door.

“Thank you.” Tony blurted out, stopping Matt in his tracks. “I don’t know what would have happened if you didn’t find him, so thank you.”

“I didn’t do anything.” Matt smiled.

“Yeah, right.” Tony snickered, standing up as well.

“Just, just be careful with him, okay?” Tony worried, nervously shoving his hand in the back pocket of his black jeans.

“Tony, you can trust me.” Matt nodded in reassurance. 

“Thanks, Murdock.” He patted his shoulder, before he left.

Tony stood over his desk, taking one last glance at the dead spider on it, before he covered it, and slid it in one of his drawers, taking his car keys and phone and leaving. That was it for one day. He went back home, and managed to finally lie in his bed. His eyes stayed wide open for a while, his mind working non-stop. After what happened today, Matt and Tony had Peter sent to where he was staying, which was one of the rooms similar to the one Tony was kept in when he first lived here, until he got his own place. They agreed that Peter couldn’t be seen working in the building until they have managed to overcome controlling his newly gained abilities. Tony suggested that Peter’s absence wouldn’t be suspicious, because according to him, he was supposed to be on a temporary leave. Matt and Peter would be meeting almost everyday in the room they were in today, so Matt could help him with controlling his senses and physical strength.

Tony wasn’t familiar with the idea of a blind man helping someone in any physical type of way, but Matt assured him that he could do it. He trusted his word for it, and hoped everything goes quietly and unnoticed. Peter said he would take care of Michelle, and would tell her in the right time. And with that, he fell asleep. The next day, everything went as they planned, and Michelle didn’t seem to second-think what he told her about Peter.

They were just a day away from the arrival of the candidates. Everyone was on edge, making sure nothing goes wrong. Even Tony himself had all the files of the candidates spread across his desk, papers everywhere. He memorized each and every name, every number. He and Matt did. They agreed that they couldn’t send them out all at once, it had to be gradually. So far, Peter and Matt’s sessions were going alright. Tony had no idea what they were doing, but he saw Peter improving, and day by day, he was becoming happier of himself. Peter has started working again a couple of days ago, but Matt told him that he still needed more time to learn how to work his enhanced senses. He was glad to have Peter stomping every now and then into his office, whether to help him out with something or to distract him in any way possible.

As much as he tried to ignore it, but the kid has grown on him. He has become too used to his presence now. They spent most of their time together, and Peter made one hell of a company to him. He managed to crawl his way up his heart and sit there, becoming one of the most important people to him. He was starting to feel that Peter is like a son he never had; and he would do anything to see him happy.

Peter stormed into his office, a giddy smile on his face. “Speak of the devil!” Tony remarked, grinning.

“Oh, I take up all your mind, I know.” Peter smiled knowingly.

“You wish.” Tony teased, secretly hoping he really wasn’t that obvious.

“So, what have you got for me?” He rubbed his hands together in excitement before resting them on his thighs.

“Told you, I got a surprise for you.” Tony raised his eyebrows, opening one of his drawers.

He took out a small paper wrapped box, sliding it Peter’s way. Peter looked at the box in confusion. “My birthday isn’t today?” Peter chuckled.

“You honestly think I’d just slide you a small box on your 21st birthday? I’m disappointed.” Tony pretended to look disappointed.

“You’ve got me.” Peter grinned, picking up the box.

“Yeah, you just wait.” Tony smiled to himself, already putting something for Peter’s birthday in mind.

He watched as he unwrapped the box, fully revealing it.

“No way!” He laughed, his eyes glistening as he examined the glass box that contained the little arachnid.

“After what happened, and what you have become, I thought you would like to keep it.” Tony smiled, his heart warm at the sight.

“That’s—that’s awesome!” Peter smiled, nearly bouncing off his seat from excitement.

“What should we call you, now?” Tony joked, bringing his hand up to his chin, pretending to be in deep thought.

“What do you mean?” Peter laughed, setting the box down on the desk.

“Well, you have superpowers now, might as well have a superhero name.” Tony shrugged.

Peter shook his head, “You’re kidding.”

“Spider-ling.” Tony shot, silly names starting to occur to him. 

“What?” Peter squealed, laughing afterwards.

  
“Spider-guy.” Tony pushed, a grin forming on his face. “Underoos.” He said, after a moment of silence.

“What does that even mean?” He asked, trying to control his laughter.

“Who cares? I like it.” Tony shrugged; his lips still shaped into a smile.

“Spider-Man.” Peter grinned, a proud smile on his face.

“Kid. Spider-kid sounds more accurate.” Tony challenged.

“I’m twenty, for god’s sake!” He laughed, tired of trying in vain to prove to Tony that he is not a child.

“A twenty-year old kid.” Tony air-wrote, causing Peter to face-palm himself.

His phone buzzed on his desk, interrupting their amusing conversation. He saw Obie’s name flash across the screen, which meant that it was something urgent. He stood up, taking his phone with him.

“Alright, I gotta go now. See you around, Spider-Man.” He joked, ruffling his hair as he passed by him, knowing how much it annoys Peter because it makes him feel like a kid, which according to Tony, was true.

“See ya.” He heard Peter say through a smile, as he walked out of the room.

He went to his and his bosses’ usual meeting place, and found Obie waiting for him by one of the windows.

“Hey.” Tony nodded towards him, greeting him.

“Tony.” He smiled, making his way to one of the chairs to sit down.

“You needed something?” Tony asked, wasting no time. Matt wasn’t here today, or at least he told him that he wouldn’t be able to make it through the first part of the day for some reason, so Tony was already stressed with too much work.

“How is everything going?” Obie asked, something unreadable in his eyes.

“You know that everything is going alright.” Tony answered.

“Of course.” Obadiah nodded, “Have you reconsidered applying the Grievers as part of the Maze trials?” He asked.

“Obie, we agreed on this.” Tony sighed, slightly easing his creased forehead.

“Tony, it’s an unmissable chance.” He pushed, “Reconsider the whole thing, for your own good.”

“I’m not doing this, Obie.” Tony shook his head. “If one of these things lands one single limb out there, the kids die before we can even blink.” By the time he was done talking, he stood up.

“I have nothing else to say.” He added, already too upset with the conversation they have just had.

He made it clear, that he wasn’t going to work on the Grievers, and they knew that. Why the hell would they ask again, and on such short notice?

“This was your call, Tony.” Obadiah sighed, standing up as well.

“What do you mean, _was my call_?” He frowned, looking at him suspiciously.

“Have a good day, Stark.” He patted his shoulder, and walked past him.

“You, too.” He replied, not sure if it was audible enough for him to hear, as he stared down at the table in thought.

He blew out a breath, shaking off the never-ending thought before leaving, too. He went back to his office, and carried on studying the files of the candidates arriving tomorrow. The rest of his day went by, Matt and Peter met during the day for yet another session that was still ongoing. Peter told Tony that he broke the news to Michelle. He smiled to himself when he remembered how annoyed Peter was that she didn’t take him seriously at first.

A knock on his door broke his gaze from the files in front of him, his eyes darting towards his usual visitor. Peter walked in, collapsing onto the chair.

“Well, you don’t look tired at all.” Tony eyed him. “You just look like you’re about to die.” He joked.

Peter shook his head, “You have no idea.” His collar was damp with sweat that spread down to his chest.

Peter slowly leaned forward on the desk, resting his head on his arms.

“I take that as a, ‘yes training with Murdock is going well’?” He asked, turning to put a file aside onto the pile that was separated from the ones on his desk.

He turned back around, facing Peter, waiting for him to answer. He found his eyes closed, fast asleep. He chuckled to himself, but couldn’t ignore the real question that he needed an actual answer for.

What could _Matt_ possibly be doing that had Peter worn the hell out after every session for the past couple of days?


	9. Chapter 9

He hasn’t seen Matt almost all day. He wasn’t here when Tony arrived this morning. When he came, he met with Peter. Tony assumed that he left right afterwards, because he still hasn’t seen him yet. He sighed to himself, rearranging the papers in front of him, before he got up and switched off his reading lamp. He walked over to Peter, and softly shook his shoulder, waking him up.

“Hey, Peter.” Peter mumbled back something incoherent, not waking up.

“We need to get you up to your room, come on.” Tony whispered, this time tugging on his arm to force him to get up. He looked insanely tired, which only added up to his existent curiosity.

Peter cooperated, standing up. Tony laughed at his half-opened eyes as he led him by the arm next to him.

“Don’t laugh at me.” He murmured through his barely moving lips.

“Alright sleepyhead, that’s enough talking for you.” Tony chuckled, walking them to the elevator.

They arrived at the floor where Peter was staying while stumbling all the way there, unable to walk properly. “Is this what being drunk feels like?” Peter looked up at him, a sleepy grin on his face.

“Not even close.” Tony cackled, grabbing Peter’s hand and slamming it onto the print scanner by his door, because he kept sticking his hand to the wall, missing the right area.

“How would I know? I never had a drink before.” He shook his head, which looked even funnier, because he was putting too much effort in it.

“And you won’t, until you’re twenty-one.” Tony tapped his upper back, urging him inside.

“That’s not fair.” He whined, dropping onto the bed.

Tony could swear that whom he saw right now was just a six-year old kid who couldn’t stop whining, because he was too sleepy, and not a grown twenty-year-old who was trying to prove that he’s not a kid today.

“Can you take off your shoes?” Tony asked, watching Peter’s slumped over figure, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Pfft.” Peter waved him off, and proceeded to untying his shoelace. He struggled to untie his shoes, causing Tony to mentally laugh at him. 

“Stupid shoes.” He grumbled, trying to kick them off.

“Here,” Tony laughed, kneeling down and successfully untying the shoelace.

He helped him get into bed, adjusting the covers over his figure. Peter had a small smile on his face, his eyes droopy, almost closed.

“All good?” Tony asked from where he was standing over the bed, looking down at him.

Peter nodded, snuggling under the covers, pulling them up to his chin. Tony turned to switch off the light, when he heard Peter say something. His eyes were closed already, but he wasn’t asleep yet, because he said something that he never thought he would ever hear, even from Peter.

“Thanks, dad.” He mumbled, burying his face into the pillow like a little kid.

Tony stood there, overwhelmed by what he just heard. His heart melted at the word, eyes starting to feel warm with tears. He was sure Peter absentmindedly said that, or he could have heard it wrong, given that he was sleepier than ever, almost unaware of his surroundings. He probably wouldn’t remember this the second he wakes up, but he didn’t care. It was enough to make him feel the sudden warmnth he felt in his chest as soon as he heard what Peter said. He never talked to him about his family; he mentioned before that he used to live with his aunt, but he never talked about his parents, nor his uncle (if he had any). He stroked his hair, staring down at his peaceful features. 

“Oh, Pete.” Tony whispered to himself, a ghost of a smile on his face. He switched off the light and quietly made his way out of the room, with only one thing on his mind,

If only the kid lying in there had any idea what he would do for him.

Tony went back to his place, showered, made himself a cup of coffee and sat in bed, digging into the internet. He searched Peter’s name, and found many articles, most of them unrelated to the Peter he knows. He dug more, until he found a few articles that go back to the year 2003.

_Tragic accident takes away New York’s best scientists, Richard and Mary Parker._

_New York mourns for the death of the Parker couple._

Tony searched deeper, eager to know why Peter’s parents were known all over New York, and why their death was such important news. He found that they were scientists, as the articles mentioned, but what made them great was the way they worked. Richard and Mary Parker were people of science and medicine. They helped the people of New York overcome difficult times and diseases with their brilliant minds. They made sure their work was available for everyone, even the ones in need. If anyone was sick, they were to receive their medication with nothing in return. Until one day, they were involved in a car accident that led to their death. Tony put down his tablet with a heavy heart. Peter lost both of his parents at such a young age. He lost them both on the same day. In such a situation, Tony thought that maybe it was a good thing that Peter didn’t get to grow up with them, it would have been way harder for him to move on. He could tell how hard it could be, because he, too, lost his parents. The only difference was that Tony was a teenager back when it happened.

Now he could see where Peter’s passion for science, his constant intention to do the right thing, and help anyone who is need, came from. After he finished reading, Tony placed his head onto the pillow, and fell asleep with a heart that ached for the person who has become very close to him.

The next morning, he was waiting anxiously for Matt to arrive with their candidates. That was it. They were finally doing it. Peter stood next to him with a serious expression on his face. He seemed to be less nervous than Tony was, which only gave him a push of confidence. Peter had the sheet of names in his hands, ready to cross out the ones who step foot in here. Minutes later, Matt arrived, followed by a herd of young men of Peter’s age, some younger, and a few older, just like he found in their files.

“Alright, here we go.” Tony mumbled, before approaching Matt, escorting the candidates to their rooms. Peter was hot on his heels, crossing out names and counting.

The three of them agreed that the candidates will be called out by names arranged alphabetically, to get examined. Tony would supervise, and help if he could, as well as Matt, while Peter makes sure the required tests they have discussed before, are done. Tony and Peter were now standing behind a glass observation window that separated them from the room where the candidates were being examined. Matt stood by the main door, making sure no one goes in or out. Tony noticed something off about Matt as he looked at him from where he stood. His jaw was set, his hands gripping his cane too tightly that his knuckles were turning white. He was about to shrug it off when he found his knuckles bruised, showing faint colors of blue and red. He watched as he accompanied two candidates who have just finished, back to their rooms and out of his sight.

“Hey,” Tony nudged Peter, asking him quietly. “Does the bruised knuckles thing have anything to do with you?”

Tony watched Peter’s expression change from confusion to realization as he answered, “You mean Matt?” A small smile shaping his lips.

Tony nodded, waiting for Peter to answer.

“Yeah, he’s crazy.” He shook his head, his lips in a full smile now.

“Crazy as in good crazy?” Tony eyed him jokingly.

“More than good. The guy fights like he could almost see.” Peter gaped, probably remembering something.

“ _Fights_?” Tony frowned.

“Yeah. How do you think I gained these?” Peter chuckled, showing off his biceps.

Tony lightly swatted his arms away from his face, forcing a smile. He tried to push away the uneasy feeling he had in his stomach, but he failed.

“Are you sure about this?” Tony asked again, trying to see if Peter was joking.

“Hundred percent. I really like training with him, he has taught me a lot, Tony. A lot.” Peter said, more seriously.

He looked back through the glass they were facing, twirling what he just heard from Peter in his mind.

“Glad you are, pal.” Tony simply said, softly patting Peter’s shoulder.

**

The day went by very slowly, draining Tony’s energy. Everyone was working on the spot, no one stood with their hands empty. It has been a long day for the whole department, but they managed to overcome the hardest part. Tony had to plant the tracker chips himself, as he didn’t trust someone else with them. Each candidate that left the examine room had a chip planted right at the base of their neck. He observed the memory erasure process along with Matt. He still looked on edge the whole day, but Tony kept telling himself that maybe it was because of how stressful the day was, maybe he, too looked just as uncomfortable as Matt did, but wasn’t aware of it. Peter spent most of the time in the lab, tracking the progress and making sure that their chips were working like Tony told him. After sending a few candidates out there at the end of the day, Matt and Tony stood in the middle of their working space, taking a final look at how everything is going, before they leave.

“Are you sure that this is going to work?” Matt sighed out of exhaustion next to him.

“It has to.” Tony shook his head, staring at the digital screen that showed a live streaming of everything happening at the Maze. “I put everything I have in this, it has to work, and _perfectly_.” He emphasized, glancing at Matt.

Matt nodded in an understanding manner. “I, uh, gotta go. Now that everything’s going well, might as well get some rest.” He smiled, straightening his jacket.

“Of course.” Tony answered, suspiciousness stirring inside him. “I’m staying for a bit.”

“You are?” Matt asked, surprised.

“What, are you getting to know me just now?” Tony chuckled. “I’m the last to leave, here.”

“Right.” Matt smiled, adjusting his glasses over his nose.

“You alright, Murdock?” Tony blurted.

“Yeah!” He answered instantly. “Just- Just tired, so I’m gonna head home. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He flashed him a quick smile, before turning around and disappearing from his sight range.

Tony frowned to himself, not buying any of what Matt has just said, but he chose to ignore it once again, assuming that maybe Matt was having a hard time and if there was something he could help with, he would ask for Tony’s help. He went back to his office to pick up his stuff and went down to his car, making his way back home. As soon as he arrived, he proceeded to changing his clothes and going to bed, trying to ignore the off-vibes Matt kept sending his way today.

—

Matt left as soon as he could, leaving Tony with such a stupid lie. If he could be awarded for something, it would be The Worst Liar Award. He has been trying to cover up for what he does, but so far, it looked like things were going out of his hands and Tony isn’t stupid. It would be a matter of time before he traps him in an investigation about why he was being too weird. He sighed as he walked down the street, taking a sharp turn to the right that led to a dark alley. He was already late, and he knew that they wouldn’t be too happy with it. He quickly changed into his black clothes, pulling the mask down his face.

He rushed to where he told them they were meeting tonight, staying alert the whole time, in case he heard someone following him or any drones that were near. Matt knew how risky their meetings were, but they had no other means of communication other than this. They agreed that they would only meet if it was really important, and cannot wait. He finally arrived to the place where his two allies were waiting for him. He could see their dark figures in front of him, but that was all. His mask didn’t really make a difference, all he could ever see was their silhouettes swimming in a sea of orange flames.

“You’re late.” Jessica snapped, her temper getting the best of her as usual.

“I know.” He nodded apologetically; his lips pressed into a thin line.

“What’s new?” Danny who stood next to her asked, addressing Matt.

“A lot.” Matt started.

“They sent them out to the Maze today. They’ve got some type of trackers onto each one of them.” He dropped the news.

“And that was Stark’s idea, of course.” Jessica scoffed; bitter sarcasm evident in her voice.

“ _Jessica_.” Danny warned, knowing that this might annoy Matt.

“Oh, please, don’t tell me that he has actually grown on you.” Jessica sarcastically pleaded; her tone still bitter.

“We’ve been through this before, Jess.” Matt sighed.

“Right.” Knowing Jessica Jones, he assumed that she has just rolled her eyes at him.

“Stark doesn’t know anything. He’s their puppet.” Matt repeated himself for the hundredth time since he has started working at WCKD.

“Matthew, this is WCKD we’re talking about, and whether your empathetic ass likes it or not, he’s just as involved as anyone else is.” She said, trying her hardest not to raise her voice.

“Jess, that’s enough.” Danny stopped her.

“And this is Fisk we’re talking about, Jessica. He manipulates people for a living. I bet Stane doesn’t even know anything about his real intentions, neither does Stark.” Matt made himself clear, hoping she drops the subject already.

“Do you actually believe him, Matt? Do you really think Stark doesn’t know what he’s doing?” She pushed, testing Matt’s own temper.

“You know, for a smartass like you, you don’t seem to remember that _I_ am the one who gets to be involved in that shit every day.” Matt snapped back, silencing her.

He blew out a breath, continuing “I didn’t sign up for this, Jess.” He said, less angry. “We’re all in this together, you guys have to trust me.”

“Matt’s right.” Danny agreed with him.

He heard Jessica huff, which meant that she was about to reluctantly agree with him, and that brought a smile to his lips. “Don’t get used to this.” He could hear the smile in her voice.

“To what?” Matt asked, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“To being right.” He heard her shoulders shift, indicating that she shrugged.

“Oh,” He chuckled. “Darling, I’m always right.” He teased, a full smile on his face.

“Get out of here.” She joked, playfully pushing his shoulder. 

“Be careful, Matt.” Danny said, his tone full of concern.

“Yeah, you too.” He replied, patting his shoulder. “I’ll reach out to you, if there’s anything new.” He said, referring to both of them.

“Alright.” Danny agreed.

Matt turned around, and went back to where he came from, changing his clothes on the way back. The streets were almost deserted at night. It was like everyone lived in an ongoing curfew.

—

The next morning, Tony sat in his office, staring at the transparent surface of his desk. Peter’s words have been ringing in his mind since last night. As much as he tried to ignore them, he couldn’t. It didn’t make sense. He sighed to himself as he waited for Matt to come in. Tony has asked him to come help him with rearranging the files of the candidates who were to be sent next month. The door knocked, grabbing Tony’s attention.

“You wanted to see me?” Matt nodded towards him, shutting the door and standing a few steps away from it. He looked more tired than usual, his hair a little tangled.

Tony’s eyes fell on his knuckles again, hundreds of questions popping in his mind.

“Yeah, uh.” Tony scratched his forehead, standing up. “I need your help with all these files. Peter’s busy a bit.” He casually said, trying to sound convincing.

“Yeah, sure.” Matt shrugged, rolling up his sleeves. He set his cane aside and took off his shades, setting them on the desk.

“Right.” Tony curtly nodded, staring at the pile of files on his desk. 

“Tony, is everything okay?” Matt asked, sounding concerned.

“Is there anything you’d like to tell me, Murdock?” Tony blurted, tilting his head to the side.

“No, not that I remember anything right now.” Matt shrugged; his features pulled into a confused look.

“Really? You’ve got nothing for me?” He took a step forward, resting his hand on the files.

“I don’t—” Matt shook his head, his eyebrows furrowed.

Tony suddenly took a couple of files and threw them in Matt’s direction, giving him no chance to think. He stood dumbfounded as Matt stepped to the side, preventing the paperback files from colliding with his face. His eyes widened more than they were already wide, probably realizing what he has just done.

“Tony, I—” He held his hands up in defense, his eyes slightly blinking.

“What the actual fuck?” Was all what came out of Tony’s lips. “Is this some kind of joke? Are you _not blind_?” He hissed in both anger and confusion; his forehead deeply creased.

“No, I—it’s complicated.” His eyes were distantly staring at Tony. 

“No shit, Matt.” Tony snapped.

“How is that even possible? Your eyes, they—” Tony paused, huffing. He didn’t know what to do or say to the troubled man who stood in front of him.

“Can you really see?” Tony asked again. 

“No, yes, it’s—”

“If you say complicated one more time, I’m seriously going to throw more things at you.” Tony sarcastically threatened.

“I’m not gonna get in your way.” He surrendered, his lips curving up into a smile.

“Is it sorcery? Some sort of a devil possessing you or something?” Tony joked.

“What? No.” Matt chuckled, frowning.

“Good.” He nodded.

“Wait, you’re not mad?” Matt asked, his head snapping in Tony’s direction.

“Well, apart from the fact that I have killed you three different times in my mind right now, no. In fact, I quite enjoyed the look on your face when I threw those files at you.” Tony shook his head, Matt’s reaction appearing in his mind again.

“Of course.” Matt rolled his eyes.

“Seriously, though. What happened? How did you reach ‘complicated’?” Tony asked, air-quoting the word complicated.

“That’s a long story.” Matt sighed, sitting down.

“I’ve got all day.” Tony shrugged, following Matt and sitting down.


	10. Chapter 10

“The bottom line is, you’ve got some chemicals in your eyes and your senses were heightened.” Tony concluded.

“In a way, yes.” Matt chuckled at Tony’s attempt to sum up the story he just heard.

Tony was about to raise his hand, when Matt stopped him. “Please don’t ask me how many fingers you’re holding up.” He shook his head, laughing.

“See that? That’s sorcery. How did you even know I was going to do that?” Tony wondered, still stunned by what Matt is doing.

“It’s kind of a typical reaction.” Matt shrugged, as a matter of fact.

“No, you’ve got a devil in there.” Tony laughed, pointing at Matt.

“Yeah, careful, it gets ugly when it’s summoned.” Matt jokingly threatened.

Silence filled the air for a few seconds, before Tony broke it. “So, the glasses and cane, they’re an act, huh?” He nodded towards Matt’s walking aids.

“Yeah.” He almost whispered back his reply.

“How did you find out?” Matt asked, slightly frowning.

“I wasn’t born yesterday, Murdock.” Tony smirked. “Your knuckles gave you away before you could say anything.”

Matt shook his head, looking down at his hands. “Quite the stalker, I see.” Matt teased.

“I prefer observer.” Tony grinned, drumming his fingers on his bureau.

“Peter mentioned that you fought like you could almost see.” Tony said, quoting Peter. “Which started all the fuss in here.” He pointed at the corner of his head.

Matt shook his head, smiling.

“He doesn’t know, right? What you told me?” Tony asked.

“No, no. But he’s smart, I’m sure he figured something out.” Matt smiled.

Tony smiled back in agreement. He looked up at the door as it opened, and Peter walked in.

“Speak of the devil.” Tony chuckled, looking at both Peter and Matt.

“I’m flattered that I take up that much space in your heads.” Peter tittered, taking a seat across from Matt.

“You’ve been spending too much time with Tony.” Matt remarked, addressing Peter.

“Excuse me? This is real mentoring here.” Tony defended. “Sense of humor is important.”

“Right.” Matt raised his eyebrows.

“Your curiosity couldn’t let you stay out of the office longer than this, could it?” Tony teased, looking at Peter.

“Honestly? No.” A sheepish grin lit up his features, making him look like a child who has done something wrong and failed at hiding it from his parents.

“Much to your luck, Matt was telling me a very interesting story.” Tony said, looking at Matt.

“What story?” Peter asked, looking at Tony and waiting for him to answer.

“How he could, you know, do the things you told me about, and when he lost his sight and stuff.” Tony explained, not getting into any details, to save time. He didn’t really have all day like he told Matt earlier.

“I knew it! I knew you were hiding something.” Peter exclaimed a little too excitedly.

Matt and Tony shared a look; their smiles wide. Both of them agreeing that they were right about Peter being smart. Tony knew that anyway. He didn’t need proof for it; the things he has seen Peter do over the time they have spent together were enough.

“Whatever happened, I’m glad you’re like this. It’s so cool.” Peter grinned, staring at Matt in awe. “That doesn’t change the fact that you are a terrible liar.” He raised his eyebrows.

“That, I agree with.” Tony looked at Peter, approving of what he said.

“All this time, you knew where you were hitting.” Peter chuckled, shaking his head. “You didn’t just get lucky every time you swung your arms at me.”

Tony watched Matt shrug and raise his arms in surrender, his dimples showing from how wide he was smiling. “Can you blame me?”

“Actually, no.” Peter answered, shaking his head.

“Am I missing something, here?” Tony eyed them suspiciously.

“Matt and I,” Peter gestured towards both of them. “You once asked me what we do during our training sessions?”

“And do I want to know exactly what you do?” Tony asked, getting the feeling that Peter was about to say something that wouldn’t sound very pleasing.

“Uhm—”

“I taught Peter how to fight, how to defend himself, and I might have taught him a few parkour tricks.” Matt blurted out, not missing a word.

“You did what now?” Tony asked in disbelief. “He’s a kid for god’s sake.” 

“I’m sitting right here, you know.” Peter awkwardly said, reminding him.

Tony narrowed his eyes at him, “You purposely stayed silent about this, didn’t you?” His focus shifted from Matt to Peter now.

“Because I knew you would react like this. I didn’t want to tell you.” Peter sighed, trying to sound as convincing as possible.

“Tony,” Matt addressed him calmly.

“I left him with you to help him  _ enhance _ his abilities, not fucking recruit him.” Tony snapped at Matt.

“Recruit me?” Peter almost laughed. “I can do things now that I never thought I could do.” His tone turned more serious.

“Like what?” Tony challenged, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Promise you won’t freak out?” He asked, standing up and taking a few steps back from the glass surface of his desk.

“If you’re asking me not to freak out, then you do know that it would freak me out. I couldn’t be happier.” Tony ran his hand over his face in frustration.

He watched as Peter took off his coat and set it aside. He looked down at his feet, taking a deep breath before his feet left the ground. He jumped in the air, his legs tucked towards his chest as he backflipped and landed swiftly on his feet, a proud smile covering his face.

“I can do a flip!” He smiled, looking at him and Matt, waiting for their approval. Matt already had a wide grin which was directed at Peter.

Tony shook his head in amusement. He tried to stop the smile from creeping its way up to his lips, but seeing Peter this happy brought happiness to his own being.

“I can do way more than just a flip.” He challenged; a from-ear-to-ear grin plastered on his face.

“Slow down, Spider-Man. It’s my office we’re talking about.” Tony held his hands up in a warning manner, motioning for Peter to sit back down.

“I still haven’t got used to this name.” He giggled, sitting down.

“It suits you.” Matt said.

“Yeah, because  _ I _ picked it.” Tony wiggled his eyebrows at Peter, causing him to roll his eyes.

“You need some serious ego taming.” Matt joked, pointing at Tony.

“Oh, tell me about it.” Peter laughed, much to Tony’s surprise.

“Excuse me, have I become too annoying for your little smart ass, Mr. Dexter?” Tony asked, watching Peter’s reaction to his question in amusement.

“And that’s my cue.” Peter awkwardly laughed, standing up.

“Oh, right, Spider-Man can’t sit with people like us. We’re too annoying.” Tony rolled his eyes.

“Speak for yourself, Stark.” Matt shot, standing up as well.

“Have you secretly become best friends and I don’t know? Teaming up against me and stuff?” Tony raised his eyebrows in humor.

“Yeah, the spider and the devil coming at you.” Matt snickered, causing Tony to laugh.

“Sounds more like the kid and the blind man to me.” He carried on, the three of them laughing afterwards.

“I’ll go get back to work. If you need anything, I’ll be right outside.” Peter announced, motioning at the door.

“Alright, kid.” Tony nodded, watching Peter pick up his coat and walk out of the room.

“Yeah, I’ll probably go, too.” Matt said, picking up his stuff.

“Hey, I know you did one hell of a good job with Peter. I thank you for that.” Tony awkwardly said, trying to sound as thankful as he was in his mind.

“I didn’t do anything.” Matt shook his head.

“God, stop trying to be the most modest man on Earth for a second.” Tony huffed, mostly joking. “I’m no stranger.”

“I’m not being modest, Tony, I’m just stating the facts.” Matt insisted, putting on his glasses.

“Fine.” Tony sighed. “Oh, and Murdock, one more thing.”

“What is it?” Matt asked, stopping by the door to look at Tony.

“Don’t make him join the circus.” Tony sarcastically remarked, a little laugh escaping his throat afterwards.

Matt looked down, laughing at himself, before he spoke up. “You seriously need help, Stark.” He shook his head and stepped out of Tony’s working space, leaving him to his thoughts and work.

Tony spent the rest of his day shifting between his office and where his team was working, monitoring everything that was happening at the Maze. He was proud of the progress they were making, even though the collected information until now, did not match any of the standards they set. Tony knew that this would take time. Plenty of time. It could be months, could be years, depending on the minds of the kids they sent out there. He was sitting in his office after spending his lunch break with Peter and Michelle as usual, the only difference was that Matt joined them for a few minutes and then left. His phone buzzed on his desk, catching his attention.

He picked it up and found an anonymous text message. His eyes skimmed over the bold words written over the screen, an overwhelming feeling of confusion and fear increasing in the pit of his stomach, the longer he read.

**Tony, if you are reading this, this means that things did not go well for my behalf. Some major changes are about to take place, or have already taken place as you’re reading. You will not like these changes, but remember that this was your call. Keep your eyes open, and your loved ones close. WCKD is not the same place you have known anymore. WCKD is not good. Do not let anyone convince you otherwise. This was my final warning, Tony.**

The phone fell back from Tony’s hand, hitting the surface of his desk. He heard a voice message announcing that the message will be automatically deleted after thirty seconds, but he was too distracted by his own thoughts to focus on his phone anymore. He had no idea who that was, or what happened. It felt like his life has already been flipped upside down the moment he stepped foot into this building, whether in a good way or not. Clearly, now was one of the times that didn’t feel good. Who might have sent him this? Why would they tell him such things? And what changes were to be made?

Tony sat back, and tried to think of anyone who might have anything to do with this. He didn’t even know many people. The person who sent this message, knew Tony well. And no one knew Tony well except for three people: Peter, Matt, and Obadiah. Tony grabbed his phone again, and dialled Obie’s number. He waited for him to pick up, but he was sent to voicemail every time he tried to call. His thoughts started to connect together, the longer it took for Obadiah to answer. His mind went back to his last meeting with him, and Tony felt like he has just been hit with a hammer on his head, pulling him out of his stunned state. “ _ This was your call, Tony. _ ” He tried to call him again, but he was met with Obie’s voicemail once again. Tony got up and left his office, heading to where he knew Fisk would stay if he had work to do. He hoped he would find him there as he hopped into the elevator and punched the number of the highest floor in the building. He waited impatiently, tapping his foot repeatedly on the floor, until the elevator came to a soft halt, its door sliding open for him.

He stood in front of the door, taking a shaky deep breath before knocking on the door. “Come in.” He heard his voice through the door.

Tony pushed the door open, and walked in, standing a few feet away from it, not too far from the bureau in front of him. The room was painted a dark shade of grey, which surprised Tony, because everything in this building was painted white, except for this room. The wall facing Tony was glass, and Fisk stood in front of it with his back to him. His hands were folded behind his back, his shoulders relaxed.

“I have always admired the view from up here.” Fisk said, still facing the window.

“Yeah, I’m sure, it’s—” Tony stopped midway when his eyes landed on a white napkin that laid on Fisk’s desk. It was stained with splotches of blood, tugging at the fear that built up inside Tony.

“Are you alright, Tony?” Fisk turned around, his eyes examining him.

“Yeah, I was trying to find a suitable word to define the view.” He said, trying his hardest not to show how uncomfortable he was feeling.

“It’s  _ breathtaking _ .” Fisk described; his head tilted upwards in pride. 

“Yeah.” Tony gulped, his eyes bouncing on and off the napkin he spotted. 

“Is there anything I should know?” He asked, sitting down.

Tony glanced at his hands, that were tinted with a faint shade of red, confirming his horrifying thoughts. “Uh, no. No, I just wanted to let you know that everything is going alright.”

“I trust you, Mr. Stark, and therefore, everything will go perfectly fine.” He stated, leaning forward in his seat.

“Of course.” Tony curtly nodded. “I should go, now.” He said, saving himself from the tension in the room.

“Sure.” Fisk nodded, letting Tony walk himself out.

Tony rushed out of the room, his heart hammering in his chest at the awful realization. He wished he didn’t connect the dots together. As he stood in the elevator, his phone buzzed constantly in his pocket. He pulled it out, and found Peter’s caller ID.

“Peter?” He answered as soon as he picked up.

“ _ Tony, something’s wrong _ .” He sounded worried.

“What’s wrong? Speak up.” Tony angrily said, already feeling bad at everything that was happening.

“ _ I don’t know, something is happening at the Maze. Everyone is panicking and I couldn’t find you _ .” He explained, the words rushing out of his mouth in a nervous manner.

“I’ll be there in seconds.” He said and hung up, waiting for the elevator to reach his floor.

As soon as he reached it, he strode out of the elevator, and headed to Peter as soon as he spotted him.

“What happened?” Tony asked, panic arising inside him.

“See for yourself.” He pointed at the displayed streaming of the Maze that played on different screens.

“What the fuck?” Tony breathed, looking closely at the moving objects inside the Maze. His fear grew when he spotted the yellow glowing eyes, lurking in the darkness.

“Has any of the moving things moved out of the Maze?” Tony yelled out his question at the working people around him.

“No, no.” Peter answered, along with more workers confirming Peter’s words.

“Tony, what’s wrong? What’s happening out there?” Peter asked, his voice full of worry.

“Something that I have repeatedly refused to do, just happened.” Tony grunted, walking into his office and rushing to operate his AI system with Peter following him.

“If you refused to do it, then why did it happen?” He asked, unwillingly getting onto Tony’s nerves.

“Peter,” He closed his eyes. “I’m just as clueless as you are. Please, I need you to be out there and help me get this done.”

Peter understandingly nodded, and got out of his office, following his commands. Tony didn’t want the amount of stress and anger he was feeling now to affect him. He needed to stop this, regardless how it happened.

“Jarvis, Plan B for trial 09.” Tony said, rotating the image of the Maze with his hands.

“ _ But we haven’t applied the trial, sir. _ ”

“It has been, somehow activated, Jarvis, I need to stop it!” Tony snapped.

“ _ Applying changes, sir. The walls of the Maze shall all be closed in two minutes. _ ”

“No, no, two minutes is too long.” Tony shook his head, already too stressed.

“ _ This is the fastest we can reach, sir. _ ”

“Fine.” Tony sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

His head was jumbled with so many thoughts. Everything happened all too suddenly. First, the message he received, then Fisk’s weird behavior and the napkin he saw up there, and then the fucking Grievers being released out into the Maze behind his back.

“ _ It’s done _ .” Jarvis announced.

Tony rushed out into the lab again and watched the screening of the Maze. He spotted the entrances of the Maze that were once opened, closed tight. Tony had a system arranged, that the walls of the maze only open by day. The Grievers were night creatures anyway, but the fact that they were out there with those kids, was a disaster. Tony let out a sigh of relief, his head looking down at his feet. He found Peter walking up to him, a small smile on his face.

“You stopped it.” He said, his smile slightly widening.

“It shouldn’t have happened.” Tony replied back, still slightly disappointed.

“But you stopped it, anyway.” Peter repeated himself, more encouragingly this time.

Tony forced a smile and patted Peter’s shoulder. 

“You okay?” He asked, his eyes searching Tony’s.

“Yeah, don’t worry about me. Go get back to what you were doing.” Tony lied, not wanting to burden Peter with any unwanted thoughts.

“Alright.” Peter whispered, and walked away, going back to where he was sitting.

Tony went to Matt’s office, feeling the need to pour all of his thoughts out. He needed someone to tell him that what he concluded wasn’t right. That he wasn’t played, fooled, and lied at, since day one. He stormed into Matt’s office and shut the door behind him.

“Tony?” Matt stood up as soon as Tony walked in, probably sensing his unusual demeanor. “Is everything okay?” 

“It’s everything  _ but _ okay.” Tony shook his head, pacing back and forth.

“Have you heard from Stane, recently?” Tony asked, hoping to hear a yes.

“No.” Matt frowned in confusion. “Why?”

“This is bad, this is really bad.” Tony huffed, continuing to pace.

“Tony, what happened?” Matt asked again, less patiently this time.

“I think, I think Stane’s dead.” He stopped in his tracks in front of Matt.


	11. Chapter 11

“What?!” Matt asked, sounding just as shocked as Tony. “Tony, this is— what makes you think he is,” He paused, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably before he continued. “Dead.”

“It all makes sense. It can’t be a coincidence.” Tony said, more to himself than to Matt.

“What can’t be a coincidence?”

“The Grievers being sent out there followed by Stane’s death, the fucking message I receive out of nowhere, and then the napkin at Fisk’s—” Tony stopped talking, his breath hitching in his throat at what he realized while thinking out loud.

“Tony, slow down. What happened?” Matt placed his hand on his tense shoulder, drawing his attention.

“There was this project,” Tony sighed, his mind going back to the very first mention of the Grievers. “Stane and Fisk wanted me to work on it, but I refused.”

“Does it have to do with the chaos that was going on out there, earlier?”

Tony nodded, “It’s a work of evil, Matt. You haven’t seen these monsters like I did. I don’t know how they were just suddenly sent out there.”

“And you think this has to do with Stane’s death?” Matt asked, placing his hands on his hips.

“I know for a fact that he wasn’t the one who sent them out there.” Tony pursed his lips, his mind in deep thought.

“What makes you so sure?”

“Obadiah and I were kind of close. He, uh, a few days ago called me up and asked me again if I was sure about not giving the Grievers another chance.” He explained.

“But he’s not the one who had it done.” Matt said, sounding skeptical.

“No, no. He sounded almost disappointed when I refused once again, like he wished I didn’t say no, but at the same time, he seemed to agree with me.” Tony’s eyes stared at the tiles beneath him, flashes of his conversation with Fisk reappearing in his mind.

“You’re saying that he might have been forced to ask you again?” Matt tilted his head to the side in thought.

“It’s the only possibility that makes sense.” Tony shook his head.

“You said something about a message.” Matt reminded him.

“God, this is so complicated.” He ran his hands over his face in frustration.

“Just tell me everything, and we’ll figure it out.” Matt forced a small smile.

Tony sighed and took a seat on one of the chairs in Matt’s office. Matt sat across him and listened intently to everything that Tony said.

“I received an anonymous message today, something about major changes that I wouldn’t like will happen, and that it was my call. Which makes sense, because, hours later, the Grievers are out even after I refused to make them part of the Maze trials more than once.”

“Did it say anything else?”

“Yeah,” Tony sighed, letting his words sink in before he says them. “That WCKD is not good as I’ve been told before.”

“No kidding.” Matt rested his hand on his creased forehead, rubbing at it.

“Oh, wait, it gets interesting.” Tony sarcastically said, his stomach churning at the memory.

“I went to see Fisk right after I received that note.” Tony announced.

“And?” Matt shifted in his seat, paying more attention.

“I found a piece of cloth on his desk. A white, blood-stained one that stared at me directly in the face.” His hand unwillingly twitched in his lap, “And uh, his hands. His hands weren’t completely clean.”

“Tony...” Matt breathed in disbelief. “You’re saying, you’re saying that—”

“Fisk is behind Obie’s death.” Tony cut him off, completing the one conclusion he has been dreading.

“That’s,” Matt struggled to say something.

“That means that Obadiah knew that Fisk was up to something, and he thought he could warn me before—before Fisk had him killed.”

“No, no.” Matt stood up, shaking his head. “He didn’t have him killed, Tony. He  _ killed _ him, and he wanted you to know that he did.” He angrily pointed towards Tony.

“I can’t believe this.” Tony chuckled bitterly, looking away from Matt.

“It makes  _ perfect _ sense.” Matt said, pacing back and forth like Tony was doing before he sat down.

“I’m sorry, is there anything that makes sense to you, right now? Because, I’d like some elaboration.” Tony snapped, suddenly provoked by Matt’s reaction.

He stopped in his tracks; his lips parted. “Uh—no, no. I’m just agreeing with you.”

“Tony, this is dangerous. It changes everything.” Matt declared, approaching him.

“You don’t think I already know that?” Tony hissed.

Matt sighed, “That’s  _ not _ what I’m saying. All I’m saying is, the less people know about this, the better. And you know who I’m talking about.”

Tony looked up at him, “Of course.” He whispered.

“No matter how much you trust him, don’t.” Matt stressed.

“You, out of all people know that the last person I would want to drag into all of this, is Peter.”

“I know.” Matt whispered, agreeing with him.

“What are you gonna do?” Matt asked as Tony stood up.

“I don’t know. But I know for a fact that something has to be done, we can’t just stand and watch.” Tony said.

“Yeah.” Matt agreed.

“But not right now, though. Whatever we’re going to do, it has to be done quietly. We know nothing.” He warned, making sure Matt understands that he can’t show anything.

“That’s probably the best thing to do in the meantime.” Matt nodded. “I’m gonna take off, alright?”

“Where are you going?” Tony frowned.

“Gotta take care of something. You go check on Peter and make sure everything goes alright.” He patted Tony’s arm and walked out before Tony could answer.

He sighed to himself and walked out of Matt’s room. He made his way back to his office and sat down, burying his head in his hands. He felt like everything was a swirl in his mind. He needed to close his eyes for a brief second, and let everything sink in.

\--

Matt jogged his way out of his office, his mind racing with so many thoughts after what Tony had just told him. Things are not the same anymore. Fisk has proved himself to be way eviler than Matt thought. He easily fooled Tony by making him think that everything he did, every step he took, was towards the right direction. Matt gripped his cane tightly in his hands as he stomped down the hallway towards the elevator. He wanted to be out of this building as fast as he could. He accidentally bumped into someone rather roughly, causing the person to stumble at the contact.

“Watch it, asshole.” The guy spat.

Matt brushed him off, not in the mood to get himself into any type of trouble right now. “Sorry.” He mumbled as apologetically as he could and started to carry on walking.

“Of course, you’re sorry. That’s all what your blind ass can be.” He yelled from behind him, forcing Matt to come to a halt.

His hands tightened around his cane, trying his best not let the stranger’s words get to him. He was already angry and this was just a sidetrack. _He can control himself._

“Looks like someone’s angry. What are you gonna do?” He mocked, pushing Matt’s temper to the edge.

Matt let out a breath, and closed his eyes, trying to stop himself from beating the shit out of the idiot who was making a fuss out of nothing. He took a step forward, completely ignoring the guy.

“You’re gonna walk away!” The man laughed.

Okay, that’s it. Matt turned around and approached the guy, standing right in front of him. “What’s your problem? Huh? I accidentally hit you, and I did apologize despite the fact that you insulted me,  _ twice _ .”

“And yet you haven’t done anything.” He challenged.

Matt chuckled, licking his lips before he spoke. “You’re wrong.” He whispered.

“See, you had a chance to shut your mouth and walk away, before you decided to waste it by underestimating the man standing in front of you.” Matt explained, adjusting his glasses over his nose after he was done talking.

“You know, for an asshole you have a pretty face. Too bad this beauty can’t stay forever.” The man smugly said, before he swung his arm at Matt, aiming to punch him in the face.

Matt didn’t think before he found himself stopping the guy’s arm midway and harshly twisting it behind his back, hearing the bones crack at the impact.

“What the fuck, dude?” He whimpered in pain, all the cockiness from earlier gone from his tone and was replaced by utter fear.

“Next time look where you’re going.” Matt hissed and let go of the man, hearing him fall to the ground.

He straightened out his shirt as he left the hallway and waited for the elevator to arrive. He successfully went in, and within minutes, he was out of WCKD’s headquarters. Matt knew where he was going, and he knew that wherever he was going, he would find either Danny or Jessica around. He needed to tell them everything right now. All that happened was not expected and he needed to warn them.

\--

“You were right about Stark, sir.” The guy said, gripping his arm.

Fisk turned from where he was looking to face his man. “Tell me everything.” He calmly said, folding his hands.

“Stark left to see his blind co-worker right after he had left your office.”

“I don’t think that Murdock’s a threat. Whatever Stark knows, it won’t get him anywhere.” Fisk stated.

“But, sir, I think there’s something you need to know about Murdock.” 

“What is it?” Fisk narrowed his eyes at him.

“He is not what he pretends to be. Something happened today, and I had him followed.” He said, remembering how he was too prepared to dodge his hit.

“That’s interesting.” Fisk fiddled with the button of his dress shirt. “I hope what you found out is worth disobeying my orders.” Fisk said, referring to their earlier conversation before he sent him to keep an eye on Tony. But his men being the idiots they are, one of them let things get out of control.

“Murdock has business outside of WCKD, Mr. Fisk.”

“What kind of business?” Fisk frowned. “What kind of business would a blind man specifically have outside?”

“That’s exactly it. Murdock doesn’t behave like a blind man. I don’t know what he could be doing, sir, but it didn’t seem good. I saw him meet with some girl; they talked for a while then parted ways.”

“Do you think Stark is helping him?” He asked, his eyebrows furrowed. 

“Anything is possible.” The guy shrugged.

“I’ll look into this myself, have them pull up every footage possible of that day. If what you say is right, the price to be paid will be remorseless. For both of them.”

\--

A day passed, and Tony hasn’t been able to act the same. It was hard for him to act like everything was fine in front of Peter and Michelle. He hated the fact that they were put to work here by a murderer. If Fisk could get into Tony’s head, he could easily get to anyone else. He felt like he needed to do something, but he couldn’t. His hands were tied. When Obadiah found out what Fisk was doing, Fisk had him killed in the blink of an eye. A man who kills his lifetime partner to achieve what he wants, is no one to mess with. Matt, on the other hand, has been quiet. He hasn’t been talking much; it’s not like Tony was doing so well himself, but at least he was trying, for the sake of Peter.

“You zoned out again, old man.” Peter snapped his fingers in front of Tony’s face, pulling him out of his thoughts.

Tony weakly chuckled, “Sorry, kid.”

“Are you alright? You’ve been—” Peter paused, trying to figure out the right word to say.

“I know.” Tony nodded. “I’m just tired; with everything going on, you know.”

“Everything is fine, Tony. Look around you.” Peter gestured with his hands around them. “I know, you’re not happy with what happened yesterday, but you figured it out.”

“But, that’s not enough, Peter.” He sighed, shaking his head.

“I don’t know about you, but that sounds enough to me.” Peter smiled, forcing Tony’s lips to curve up into a smile.

“How is your training with Matt going?”

“Good. I kicked his ass today.” He proudly said, a smile plastered on his face.

“Should I feel threatened?” Tony joked, placing his hand on his chest.

Peter laughed, “No. Not yet.” He narrowed his eyes at the last part, trying to sound threatening, but failing miserably.

“It’s late, you should get back to your room.” Tony patted his shoulder, urging him to get up.

It wasn’t that late, but he didn’t want Peter wandering around the place alone. Not after what he found out.

“Yeah, I’m tired, anyway.” He nodded.

“Want me to come up with you?” Tony offered.

“Nah, I’m good.” Peter waved him off, “Night.” He smiled before walking out of the door.

“Night, kid.” He smiled back, and watched him until he disappeared out of sight.

Tony sighed to himself and went over to Matt’s office to see if he was still here. He knocked gently and waited for a response.

“Come in, Tony.” He heard him through the door before he entered. “How did you—”

“I have known you long enough to recognize your knock.” Matt smiled. 

“Right.” Tony chuckled, all of this still sounding foreign to him.

“I heard you got your ass kicked today.” Tony snickered.

“Yeah.” Matt cackled, “He earned it.”

“I still can’t see this. I can’t see him the way you do. He’s a kid to me.” Tony shook his head.

“He’s not just any kid, Tony. It always sounds like he’s  _ your _ kid.” Matt smiled, pointing at him.

“I just—I don’t want him to get hurt. I feel like I have to do something, but I can’t.” He threw his hands in the air, in defeat.

“I know.” Matt’s lips formed into a thin line.

“You staying?” Tony asked, after a few moments of silence. 

“A bit, yeah.” Matt nodded.

“I see you’ve taken after my habit.” Tony raised his eyebrows.

“We’re all looking up to someone.” Matt teased.

“I’m flattered.” Tony smirked.

“Get out.” Matt laughed, nodding towards the door.

“Alright. See ya.” Tony shortly waved before he stepped outside Matt’s office and left.

The next morning, Tony woke up feeling a little better. His short conversations with Peter and Matt during the day surprisingly left him feeling good. He went straight to his office, placing his hand on the print reader to allow him access. He twisted the door knob and opened the door, his body momentarily freezing at what he saw in his own working space.

“Morning, Mr. Stark.” Fisk greeted from where he sat behind Tony’s desk.  _ Where he always sits. _

“How did you get in here?” Tony frowned, walking in.

“You forgot that I run this place.” He smiled at him, which made Tony’s stomach churn at the sight.

“Right.” Tony replied, his tone void of any emotion.

“Here, I brought you coffee. I know it brightens up your day.” Fisk extended out his hand for Tony to take the cup. He hesitated for a couple of seconds before he took it.

“Please, take a seat.” Fisk pointed at the chair beside the desk.

Tony reluctantly sat down and took a few sips from his cup, the warm liquid comforting his awfully dry throat. His face grimaced a bit at its taste. It didn’t taste as it usually does; it was more bitter than normal. But he decided to ignore it, and blamed it on his empty stomach.

“Is there anything you want to talk to me about, Stark?” He asked, something unreadable in his eyes.

Tony gulped, trying his hardest not to give away all the thoughts and words that were screaming at him right now. “No.”

“You’re a smart man, Tony. I admire that about you.” He stood up, buttoning his black jacket.

Tony immediately followed, standing up cautiously. He eyed him, not knowing what to say or where he was going with his usual riddle talk.

“But, not smart enough.” He said, stepping forward so he was standing a few inches away from him. “I’m disappointed in you, Mr. Stark. I thought you knew better.” He clenched his jaw, his muscles twitching.

“What do you—” Tony was about to ask what Fisk meant, but he was interrupted when he saw movement from his peripheral vision.

He looked to the side, where he left his door open, probably out of shock. He saw two men standing over where Peter was sitting, and they seemed to be having a conversation. Peter smiled at them and stood up, following the men escorting him. Tony’s blood boiled in his veins, anger and fear threatening to break through.

“You—” Tony hissed, about to threaten Fisk, when he cut him off.

“You brought this upon yourself, Stark.” He slightly yelled, startling Tony.

“You’ll fucking regret this.” Tony sneered, staring at him directly in the eyes, before he rushed out of his office to follow the men who were taking Peter.

He ran down the hallway, speeding up as much as he could so he could catch up to them, but something felt off in his body. They have just rounded a corner when Tony spotted them. Peter was walking in the middle, one man on either side of him. Tony’s vision blurred for a few seconds, but he quickly blinked his eyes, keeping his gaze focused.

“Peter!” He yelled, stopping them halfway.

“Tony—” Peter turned around when he heard him, the guards doing the same. But Peter was cut off when the two men roughly grabbed both of his arms and started pulling him away.

“Hey, what—” Peter struggled to free himself, sheer confusion and fear covering his face.

“Tony, what’s happening?” He looked back at him; his eyes full of panic.

Tony started running towards them again, but his body felt heavier with each step. His vision kept blurring, but he fought it. He didn’t understand what was going on with him. All what mattered to him, now, was Peter.

“Tony!” He heard him scream, and the sound felt like nails digging into his ears.

He mustered up all his strength and ran faster, until their blurry figures were seen again. “Hey!” He tried to yell again, his voice coming out hoarse this time, but loud enough to be heard.

He saw their figures that kept blurring and unblurring shuffling. Peter was trying to fight them off, and he managed to knock one of them down, given that he was stronger than normal. But the guy easily stood back up and pushed Peter backwards while the other held him in place. Tony couldn’t see what the man took out of his pocket, but he saw his arm raising over Peter’s head and it stopped right at his neck. Peter let out a scream at what the guy did to him, but he kept wriggling in their grip, trying to get away.

Tony managed to carry himself a couple of feet nearer to them right when Peter pushed the guy behind him into the wall and punched the one who previously hit him and ran towards Tony, his steps lousy. It looked like he could barely walk, just like him. Yet, he managed to reach Tony, collapsing into his arms, gripping tight onto his clothes like he could disappear any moment. They both kneeled down until they were on their knees in the middle of the hallway. Tony held back onto him as tight as he could, but he felt like no matter how hard he tried, his muscles weren’t following.

“I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t want to go with them.” Peter cried into his neck, shaking with sobs.

Tony pulled back enough to cup his cheeks, “I won’t let that happen, okay? I have your back. Always.” His own voice broke as he stared into Peter’s teary eyes that were starting to look droopy.

Peter’s hand went up to the hand that Tony rested on his cheek, holding it tight. He glanced behind Peter, and his mind froze. 

“No, no, no.” He whispered, seeing as the guards rushed back to their feet and stormed towards them again.

They forcefully grabbed Peter by the shoulders, yanking him away from Tony. Tony unwillingly lost his grip on Peter’s hand, feeling his body becoming too weak. His eyes kept getting heavier, threatening to betray him and close.

“Tony, help!” Peter screamed. “Don’t let them take me!” Tony saw his hand reaching out towards him, before his voice grew weaker, and his hand fell limp.

“Peter!” He attempted to shout, but all what came out was a whisper. His head became too heavy to control, and the place started spinning with the image of Peter unconscious, being dragged away from him.

His eyes finally fell shut, his whole body following. Peter’s shrilling screams served as a reminder in his bleary mind. 

A reminder that they took his kid away from him.


	12. Chapter 12

Tony jerked awake, his head spinning. He looked around and he was no longer in the hallway. There were no guards, no Fisk, no—

“Peter. Where’s Peter?” Tony looked to the side, where he found Matt sitting by his bed.

How did he get back to his place? And why is Matt here?

“Slow down.” Matt urged, motioning for Tony to sit back.

“Don’t tell me to fucking slow down.” Tony warned. “How did I get here?”

“I—I heard what happened, but by the time I was there, you were already out.” Matt said, his voice laced with hurt.

“God,” Tony whispered, burying his head in his hands at the horrible memory.

His eyes subconsciously teared up as everything started replaying again in his closed eyes. He quickly snapped them open, looking at Matt.

“How could I be so stupid?” He whispered to himself.

“Tony, tell me exactly what happened.”

“Oh, you wanna know what happened?” Tony snapped. “Which part should I start with? The part where I fucking drugged myself with my own hands? Or the part where I  _ watched _ them take him away from me?”

“What?” Matt hissed.

“Fisk walked right up to me. He said it in my face. That  _ I _ brought this upon myself.” Tony paced back and forth, trying to contain his anger.

“He’s punishing you for something?” Matt asked, frowning. 

“No shit, Sherlock.” Tony spat.

He stopped pacing, and tried to calm down. “Where have they—where’s Peter?” Tony asked again, not knowing if he really wants to find out.

Matt looked at him with sorrow in his eyes, his lips pressing into a thin line. 

“No, no. Don’t give me that look.” Tony whispered, feeling his throat go tight.

Tony’s stomach started to churn the longer Matt stayed silent. “Murdock, if you know where he is and—”

“They sent him out to the Maze.” Matt blurted, sitting down.

Tony’s blood ran cold. He felt like his world has just stopped. He could feel how heavy his heart was, yet it didn’t feel like it was beating at all. It felt like all the air was sucked right out of his lungs. He stumbled a few steps back, until his feet hit his bed. He dropped down on it, resting his elbows on his legs, looking down at his feet. His eyes just stared blankly at the patterns of his bedroom rug as tears silently ran down his cheeks.

“I’m sorry, Tony.” Matt whispered, patting his knee for comfort.

Tony’s eyes stayed fixed on the floor, not moving an inch. Everything just hurt too much that he didn’t know what to feel anymore. Anger? Sorrow? Pain? All there. Even regret. Regret hit the hardest. What happened to Peter was his fault. If he hadn’t let him get that close to him, Fisk would have never considered even laying a finger on him. What tugged most at his heart was that he could still hear him screaming for help. He could still feel how tight his arms held onto his body. He remembers how he couldn’t hold back his hand that kept reaching out to him until the last second. He failed him. He failed the one person he truly and deeply loved.

Anger started firing him up, the longer he sat down. Peter did not deserve what that asshole did to him. And he certainly wouldn’t sit here and let Fisk think that he won, and that he got to him. He stood up and marched his way to the door. He heard Matt follow him, catching up to him where he stood by the door.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Matt asked, blocking Tony’s way.

“Letting that prick know who I am.” Tony stepped past Matt and proceeded to open the door.

“Just like that? What do you think will happen?” Matt asked, throwing his hands in the air.

“I don’t care what happens, Murdock. It’s not like I have anything to lose.” Tony shrugged, looking blankly at Matt.

“You’re wrong. We can still do something, just please listen to me.” Matt begged, approaching him.

“Oh, no no. There’s no ‘we’. You stay out of this.” Tony shook his head.

“What? Excuse me, do you think that you’re the only person whom Peter is of importance to?” Matt snapped, clearly offended.

“No, I—that’s not what I mean, Matt.” Tony blew out a breath. “I just, I can’t afford seeing you, too, hurt.” He said, and rushed out the door, shutting it behind him.

“Goddammit, Tony.” He thought he heard Matt jeer rather loudly, before he got into the elevator and made his way to where he would find the last person he would ever want to see again in his life.

He drove back to WCKD, adrenaline pumping through his veins. He raced his way up to Fisk’s office, trying to ignore the whispers and looks that were thrown his way with every step he took. The elevator stopped at the top floor, opening its doors for him. Tony wasted no time in barging into his room, slamming the door behind him, loud enough to catch Fisk’s attention.

“You,” Tony pointed at him angrily. “You won’t get away with this. I swear on Pe—I promise you; you will regret doing this.”

“Are you threatening me?” Fisk asked, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

“Threatening you?” Tony scoffed, “I’m letting you know what my purpose is, the second I step out that door.” He pointed behind him at the door.

“I told you, you’re a smart man, Tony.” He stood up, “But your connections, friends, they weaken you.”

He walked up to Tony, standing right in front of him. It took everything in him not to wrap his hands around his throat and choke him to death.

“The more connections you have, the easier it is to break you.” He took a device out of his pocket, and stared at it, his fingers hitting the screen at different places.

“What game are you playing, huh?” Tony asked, trying to divert his attention back to him.

“Perhaps you should ask your co-worker that question, not me.” He calmly said.

Tony frowned; his mind puzzled. “What are you saying?”

Fisk turned the device in his hand towards Tony, so he could see the screen. He glanced skeptically at him, before his eyes landed back on the small screen. His mind went into a wave of confusion as he watched a brief video of a woman standing alone by a building that looked quite old. She had dark hair, and her skin was pale-white. She was wearing a leather jacket, and a grey scarf around her neck. He watched as she kept looking around her cautiously, like she didn’t want anyone to see her.

“What the fuck does that—” Tony’s words stopped, his tongue abruptly getting tied.

He saw the man in the black mask approach the woman who was clearly waiting for him. They talked for a few minutes. Tony couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they seemed worried or angry. Maybe both. He had no idea why Fisk was showing him this, and he had no idea what that had to do with what they were saying. Tony kept watching, until they parted ways, and whatever was following the man who attacked him months ago, followed him to a narrow alley, where the man stood and took his mask off, his face coming in view.

“That’s bullshit.” Tony shook his head in disbelief. “You’re just—it’s what you do for a living. Throw bullshit at people.”

It couldn’t be Matt. Matt wouldn’t hide such a thing from him, right?

“You can always ask him yourself, Tony.” Fisk looked down at him with his menacing eyes.

“No, no. That’s just one of your dirty games.” Tony shook his head again, too shocked to believe what his own eyes saw.

“If it’s one of my games, then why is Peter out there? Is Murdock really worth the trust you have put in him?” Fisk pushed, his voice getting louder with every word.

“I hate you.” Tony whispered, clenching his jaw. “You will remember this day as much as I will. I will make sure you do.” Tony threatened, feeling his hand shake from how infuriated he was.

He stomped his way out of Fisk’s office before he could kill him with his own bare hands. He went into the elevator and waited for it to reach his floor. He rushed out of it and strode his way to his office, but he nearly face- planted when he his hand was forcefully tugged to the side, and he was pushed into one of the minor labs they had. He barely had any time to comprehend what happened, before his eyes landed on who has just dragged him to the side.   


The side of his forehead was bleeding, and he was panting.

“What are you doing!?” Tony hissed. “And what the hell happened to you?” His eyes looked him up and down.

“I couldn’t let you just go to him alone.” He said, sounding disappointed that he was late, again.

“Why?”

“It’s Fisk, Tony. You have clearly known how dangerous he is.” Matt said, referring to the state he is in.

“That’s it? Or were you afraid that your little secret would be out?” Tony said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I’m sorry?” Matt frowned.

“And I thought that this was my fault.” Tony looked down at himself in bitterness.

“Tony, what happened? What did he tell you?” Matt asked, walking closer to him.

“Why do you care so much about what he said?” Tony angrily asked.

“Because Fisk manipulates people for a living! Don’t let whatever he said get to you.” He pleaded.

“See, Murdock, it is not about what he said; it’s about what  _ I saw _ .” Tony shook his head in refusal.

“What do you mean?” Matt’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Let me remind you of something, Matt.” He stepped closer to him, until they were just a few inches away from each other. “Months ago, I ran into someone, in an ugly way. I searched for that person for as long as I could, but I hadn’t found anything, until today.”

Tony watched Matt’s face grow confused the more he talked, “And I remember something he told me, very vividly.”

“What was it?” Matt asked, his forehead creased.

“I will very much enjoy breaking every bone in your body until there are no whole ones left.” Tony repeated his threat from the night he attacked him when they first met.

Matt’s face dropped, losing its previous stern look. His lips parted in for seconds, before he managed to speak, just for Tony to interrupt him.

“Tony, I—”

“Don’t.” He snapped.

“I fucking trusted you.” He hissed, letting all the anger and hurt he was feeling lash out on him.

“I let a serial killer into my life, and not just that, no. I paved the way for him.”

“I’m not a killer.” Matt replied sternly.

“But beating up people and  _ threatening _ them is totally fine!” Tony unwillingly yelled, provoked by Matt’s answer. “And even after that, you had the audacity to show up _here_ , and pretend that you’re an oh so noble man.”

“Listen, you have a right to be angry, but I, too have—”

“A right? No. You can have anything but that. You lied about your intentions the first day you were here, Murdock. That was your choice.” Tony shook his head.

“For god’s sake, Tony, listen!” Matt slammed his hand against the wall behind him in anger, startling Tony. “I don’t have much time, so please just hear me out.” He begged, calmer than before.

Tony’s nostrils flared in anger, “Whatever you have to say, doesn’t change the fact that you are a reason for what happened.” He quietly said.

Matt bitterly laughed, “Me! Am I the person who every time something happens, goes up to Fisk, thinking that he’s outsmarting him?  _ Twice _ ?” He yelled.

“I’m sorry, what did you want me to do?!” Tony yelled back.

“You should’ve done the one thing you’ve been refusing to do, until now!”

“And that is?” Tony crossed his arms, stopping himself from hitting Matt on the head with something.

“Listen to me!” Matt frantically threw his hands up in the air. 

“Like you would have had a solution.” Tony scoffed.

Matt impatiently sighed, “Tony, Fisk is using you. This is exactly what he wants.”

“Just stop.” Tony ran his hands over his face. “Fisk is a manipulative prick, that’s a fact, and you—”

“I did what I had to do.”

“ _ Oh my god _ .” Tony rolled his eyes so hard. “If you try to justi—”

“I’m not justifying what I did! I was going to tell you.” Matt sighed, “Eventually.”

“Eventually? Were you waiting for something like this to happen so you could tell me, Murdock?!” Tony felt like his veins could burst out of his neck from how angry he was feeling right now.

“I couldn’t risk telling you before.” Matt ran his hand through his hair. “I had to make sure that you don’t live up to Fisk’s intentions.” He calmly said.

Tony’s eyes looked down, “I hope that was enough proof for you.” He motioned around them.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered.

“Did he, uh,” Tony pointed at his messed-up state. “Was he the one who did this?”

“Yeah,” Matt looked down at himself. “He sent his men after me. I managed to lose them, but I can’t stay here for long. I just wanted to talk to you before I leave.”

“But—where are you going?” Tony’s brows furrowed.

“Well, when we first met,” Matt licked his lips.

“When you attacked me.” Tony corrected.

“If you’re going to stay like that the whole time, I swear—” 

“Alright, fine.” Tony held his hands up in defense.

“At that time, I have just heard about the Maze; that WCKD was planning for something. I knew you were the one who was going to work on that project.”

“That’s why you came after me.” Tony continued.

“Yes,” Matt blinked, sounding regretful. 

“WCKD was never good, Tony. This building was built by the hands of people who are probably buried underneath it, now. The poor, the homeless, the ones in debt, were all tempted to work here.”

Tony shivered at the image as Matt spoke. “I thought you knew what they were doing, and willingly worked with them, but clearly, you weren’t.” He sadly sighed.

“And that’s why you let me go that day, right?” Tony asked, remembering when he woke up on the pavement next to his car.

“Yes.” He nodded.

“But why the black mask? What did you want with WCKD?”

“That’s kind of the shocking part.” Matt awkwardly scratched his head.

“Try me.” Tony half-heartedly joked, making fun of his own misery.

“I lead a secret organization. It’s called the Resistance.” He announced.

Tony chuckled, but his laugh died down when he saw Matt’s reaction unfaltering. “You’re serious.”

“I have been tracking WCKD for years, and I know all about their dirty work. My organization aims to take down WCKD, Tony. The whole mask thing is for keeping my identity a secret. If WCKD knows about The Resistance, I’m dead.”

“I can see that.” Tony raised his eyebrows at Matt’s sight. “And by WCKD you mean Fisk.” Tony said, his heart ready to jump out of his chest any second as he remembered what Fisk showed him.

“Well, he knows. He knows about you being the man in the black mask. It’s why I told you that I saw something.”

“Dammit.” Matt angrily snapped, rubbing at his forehead, instantly regretting it afterwards.

“But I don’t think he knows about the organization thing. Fisk would have had you killed in a blink of an eye, if he had known.” Tony said, trying to think positively.

“There’s no doubt about that.” Matt agreed.

“What he did was a warning for you.” Tony noted and Matt nodded.

“What happened when you, when you knew. How did you know?” He nervously asked.

“He showed me a video of you meeting up with a woman.” Tony casually said.

“I don’t understand...” Matt looked puzzled. “I didn’t hear anyone following me.” His eyes flickered in thought.

“It’s WCKD, Murdock. Fisk doesn’t need to send someone after you to follow you in person. It must have been a drone. It’s the only thing that moves while filming.”

“It was moving?” Matt’s lips parted in surprise.

“Welcome to my world.” Tony partly smiled, motioning to all the technological equipment he uses every day. “So, all this time, you knew they were pricks and yet you let me work with them.” He sadly said, still disappointed at Matt.

“I know, I shouldn’t have kept it this long from you. But you know.” Matt awkwardly said.

“I understand.” He nodded, understanding Matt’s situation.

“That doesn’t mean that I’m okay with what you did. You should thank your god that I love Peter more than holding a grudge against you.” Tony joked, meaning every word he said.

“I know.” Matt nodded, a small smile on his face. “We’re gonna get him, Tony. You have my word.”

“Not just him. I don’t want to see any of those kids suffering out there.” He sighed, “We’re putting an end to this.”

“Tony, that’s—”

“I know what I’m saying, Murdock.” He cut him off, sparing himself a lecture.

“If you say so.” Matt nodded reassuringly.

“I just have one more thing to ask of you.”

“Anything.” Matt shook his head.

“Don’t make me regret taking your word for this.” He said, hoping from the bottom of his heart that this time, no more surprises come his way.

“I won’t.” Matt reassured, smiling at him. “I’ll lay low for a couple of days, until everything settles down.”

“Be careful.” Tony said, trying not to sound too genuine. 

“You, too.” Matt nodded, turning to open the door.

“Murdock,” Tony frowned, remembering something. “How will I find you? You know, if I needed your help?”

Matt chuckled, “You’re Tony Stark, you will figure something out.” And with that, he rushed out the door disappearing from Tony’s sight.

Tony sighed to himself and waited a few minutes after Matt left, then walked out himself. He went to his office and sat down in his chair, burying his head in his hands. Too many things happened today, and he didn’t know if he would be able to handle himself. He didn’t know which hurt more; the fact that Peter is out there in the Maze all alone? Or that he has been betrayed by someone whom he considered a close friend? In this case, betrayal sounded like an understatement. What Matt did to him was far worse, but if what he said was true, and he was really going to help, then that shall make up for what he did.

Tony’s thoughts were interrupted when the door to his office flew open, Michelle walking in and shutting it behind her. Her eyes were bloodshot and her face held a stone cold expression. She stared at Tony as she walked nearer to him. He shot up from his seat, approaching her. His heart ached at how she looked.

“How could you let this happen?” She whispered, her eyes brimming with tears that were threatening to fall.

“Michelle,” Tony said, but she held up her hand, stopping him.

“He would never hurt a fly. He loved working with you more than anything. What happened to him, is on  _ your _ shoulders, Tony.” She pointed at him, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks.

Her words dug at his heart, carving out a new wound that hurt just as much as the ones that were already there did. He stood silent in front of her, not finding the right words to say, because there were none.

“I’m only saying this once,” She stepped closer to him.

“Get your head out of your ass and help the one person who trusted you with his life, because I’m not going to sit back and watch him walk to his death because of  _ you _ .” She pointed at him, her tone surprisingly sterner and calmer than before.

Tony held her hand in his, squeezing it tight. Tears burned at his eyes as he stared at her. 

“He’s my only friend.” She whispered, her bottom lip trembling.

“I know.” He cupped her cheeks, wiping away her tears.

He looked her in the eyes and said, “I will get him out of there. I will get them all out.” He assured her.

Her hands went up to his, holding them tight. “Whatever it takes.” He whispered.


	13. Chapter 13

He couldn’t tell whether his eyes were opened or closed, because all he could see was darkness. Pitch black invading his vision. He couldn’t hear anything but the loud sound of metal screeching. He tried to stand up, but his head hit something; he raised his hands to find out what was blocking his way up, and his fingers were met with metal. Cold and wet metal rods that extended from above him, to either side of him.   


He was trapped in a cage.

His arms frantically felt around for anyone, anything, but he couldn’t find any; he was alone. It was hard to move, as the cage he was kept in, was moving at a full speed. He could tell that it was going up, because as more time passed, the less his ability to breathe became something easy to maintain. He felt like his lungs were being crushed, begging for air. The sound of his surroundings kept getting louder and louder, the pressure on his body too much, that he started screaming, hoping that someone would hear him.

Suddenly, everything stopped and the cage came to a halt. A blinding light found its way into his face. He had to cover his face with his hands, looking up at where the light was coming from. He squinted, trying to adjust to the bright light before he slowly uncovered his eyes. His vision was a bit blurry, but he could make out figures of people surrounding him.   


He blinked a few times, his vision becoming clearer each time. There was a group of guys who looked of about his age, all huddled together staring down at him. He wondered why they were staring down at him with unreadable expressions.

“Looks like we have got one off-the-wall, here!” he heard someone yell, but he couldn’t tell where it came from.

His hearing wasn’t that good either. He felt like he was under water, voices muffled, the sound of clinking metal still ringing in his ears.

One of the boys jumped down, next to where he was half sitting, startling him.

“Hey, chill.” he thought he heard him say, looking down at him.

He was tall, a bit skinny, his hair was the lightest shade of brown that seemed blond when he was up there under the direct sunlight. His eyes were dark, almost black.   


He realized he has been staring for too long at the guy when he saw him wave his hand in front of his face multiple times, snapping him back to reality.

“Hello? Can you hear me?” the boy crouched down on his knees in front of him, looking closely at his face.

He could hear him quite well now, which sparked a hint relief inside him. He could also hear the noise of the others talking up there, and eyeing him. He wanted to answer him so bad, but his throat was tight and dry from all the screaming. He attempted to speak, but all what came out was a faint whisper of ‘yes.’

“Okay, good.” He nodded, slowly. “Do you remember anything?”

He shook his head no.

“Well, that’s not a surprise.” He laughed, and looked up at the others who followed his reaction.

He didn’t understand why they were laughing, and he certainly didn’t know why he couldn’t remember anything. It was like, every time he tried to think of something, he would see a white blank page. No matter how hard he tried to remember anything about himself, he couldn’t. Except for one thing.

“Peter.” He whispered.

“What’s that?” His companion replied.

He cleared his throat, and tried putting more effort into speaking up, hoping it would work.

“Peter. My name, it’s—It’s Peter.”

“Aye! There you go!” he laughed, and patted Peter’s shoulder rather roughly.

“I’m Newt.” the blond guy said, standing up. “Let’s get you out of this dumpster, eh?” Newt offered his hand which Peter hesitantly took, standing up with him.

He watched as Newt easily jumped up to where the others were still standing, waiting for Peter to follow him suit.

“Come on.” he looked down at Peter, anticipation visible in his eyes.

Peter jumped up, taking Newt’s hand that was extended towards him, helping him stand on his feet upright. The first thing he laid his eyes on was the bright green grass that they were all standing on. His heart raced in his chest as he looked around, everyone staring at him with funny expressions on their faces, some of them even laughing.

“So, what do you think?” Newt asked from beside him.

Peter glanced at him, confusion taking over his whole face. He took a couple of steps forward, the crowd making room for him to walk. Trees were found everywhere, decorating the wide field of green. Tents and small huts were scattered in the far distance, as well as remnants of bonfires, indicating that these people were living here.

“Cat ate your tongue?!” someone yelled from a distance behind him, followed by a fit of laughter.

He ignored the stupid question and walked further into the open, which pretty much looked like a forest but with huts and tents everywhere. The sun burnt at his skin, sweat running down the back of his neck. The weather was so hot that he didn’t feel like he was actually breathing in and out. He stood there, staring out in the distance, endless question marks popping up in his mind. 

His confusion even grew when he spotted a huge grey wall far into the distance. He couldn’t see to where it extended from where he was standing, but it sure looked huge enough to nag at the utter confusion he was feeling right now, turning it into the tiniest bit of curiosity.

“What is this place?” he breathed, bewilderment taking over him.

Peter heard someone walk up next to him. He looked at them, and found that it was Newt. His features no longer held a wide grin to them, nor a playful expression. It was replaced with a thoughtful look. He followed Peter’s gaze to where the huge wall was, a crease forming on his forehead before he turned to stand in front of Peter, blocking his sight. There was an unreadable expression on Newt’s face that Peter struggled to understand.

Newt spoke up before he could, adding up to the perplexity he was already feeling.

“Welcome to the Glade, Peter.” Newt smiled half a smile, giving Peter a rough smack on the shoulder.

“The—what?”

“This.” Newt said, gesturing around them. “We call it the Glade.”

The others followed Newt, gathering where he and Peter were standing.

“Quite the shy one, huh?” Peter heard someone ask smugly from behind him.

He turned around to see who was talking.

“And, that’s Gally!” Newt exclaimed, trying to sound excited, but ended up shooting that Gally guy a glare.

“I’m sorry?” Peter asked.

A rather well-built guy stood at the front of the group with his arms crossed over his chest. His hair was whitish blond, cut short into a buzz-cut, revealing his round-shaped skull. His icy blue eyes looked Peter up and down in a manner that he didn’t like. It made him really uncomfortable.

“I was talking to you.” Gally snapped.   


“Sorry, I didn’t hear you.” Peter said.

“Guess your brains fell out when you were on your way up here, that’s why.” he sarcastically said, earning a fit of laughter from the whole crowd.

Peter felt embarrassed, anger building up inside him. He did not know what took over him, until he blurted out the first thing that popped in his mind.

“At least mine weren’t stuck in my ass like yours.” he spat.

Peter was surprised at himself. He did not know how or why that was his first response, but he knew that he certainly did not like it when someone tried to make fun of him, or embarrassed him. He was satisfied with the impression he left, though. Everyone was laughing, and booing at Gally. He heard Newt laughing next to him, forcing him to grin, proud of how he stood up to himself. Gally’s previous smug smirk fell from his face, and was replaced with a furious look.

“You little—” he rushed towards Peter, but Newt was quick to stop him in his tracks, the others following.

“Woah woah! That’s enough roast for the day, folks.” Newt said, standing in the middle, between Peter and Gally, his hands held up.

“Did you not hear what he said?!” Gally pushed.

Newt sighed, “I’m pretty sure everyone heard, Gally. Just go away.”

He stared back and forth between Peter and Newt, before speaking up again. “Fine.” he backed away, “But, you, we’re not done.” he pointed at Peter.   


“Oh, for god’s sake.” Newt face-palmed himself.

“Should I be worried?” Peter wondered out loud. 

“Not at all. He’s just Gally being Gally.”

“So, he’s an asshole.” he concluded.

Newt chuckled, “Somehow, yeah.”

Peter shook his head, looking over at him yelling at another person in the far distance. Some guys came and welcomed him, introducing themselves, but by the time they were finished, Peter could not remember all of their names. There were too many people, all guys. His age, younger, and maybe a couple of years older, but not older than thirty. After that, Newt walked him around the Glade, showing him around.

“I see you left quite an impression.” Newt smiled at him, as they walked together towards an emptier, and less crowded part of the Glade.

“Me?”

“No one ever, dares to talk back at Gally like you did, and on your first day?” he laughed, shaking his head. “You surely are something.”

Peter was happy with what his new friend was telling him, but he also didn’t get why was Gally being an asshole for no reason.

“Is he like that with everyone?”   


“Pfft! All the time.” Newt chuckled.

“Then why does no one stop him? Why do you guys let him treat you like that?” he wondered.

“Oh, no no, not me. Gally does not have the guts to come at me like that.” Newt shook his head.

Peter raised his eyebrows. “Why is that?”

“Gally likes to boss people around, he just likes everything to go how he wants. If someone protests or speaks up, which is what you did today, he cowards away.” he explained.

“Now, I get it.” he nodded to himself.

Peter glanced over Newt’s head, seeing the grey wall he spotted earlier. “Hey, Newt?”

“Yeah?”

“What’s that over there? That huge wall?” Newt followed Peter’s gaze, before turning around to face him again. He stood in front of Peter, blocking his sight _again_.

“That,” He pointed behind him. “Is not something you should be worrying about, specially, on your first day here.”

Peter nodded slowly, not dropping his gaze from the wall that kept staring back at him, gnawing at his curiosity.  He let Newt walk him away, and tried not to think about it much, listening to what his friend said. 

The day went by, with no further disturb from Gally, except for occasional glares, or looks of disgust he would shoot at Peter. Newt told him to ignore him, along with his lost puppy, Flash. Peter hadn’t exactly met Flash, but Newt told him about him. He found out that he was the one who called Peter an ‘off-the-wall’ the second he saw him. Newt told him that Flash was an idiot who followed Gally everywhere, and did whatever Gally asked him to do.

The night fell, and all the Gladers stayed awake, until the bonfires eventually burnt out. Newt had shown Peter earlier where he would be sleeping; they had hammocks tied between tree trunks, and wooden rods that they shaped for themselves. Peter laid in his hammock, unable to fall asleep.

Night at the Glade was eerily quiet. The only thing Peter found fascinating, was the sky. It looked utterly black, with thousands of glowing stars decorating it. It almost looked unreal. Everyone around him was fast asleep, and no matter how hard he tried to sleep, he couldn’t. His day kept replaying itself in his mind. He tried to think how tomorrow would go like, what he will do, if he will meet new Gladers; different thoughts ran in his mind as he laid there. 

As longer time passed, Peter finally decided to give up sleeping, and got up as quietly as he could. He put on his shoes, which were black combat boots. He spent the day in the clothes he was sent in; a faint blue shirt, and a pair of black cargo pants. He walked out of the place he and the others were sleeping in, and headed towards one of the bonfires that were still fighting to stay lit. He stood by it, letting the chill breeze of the night brush past him.

He thought about his first day at the Glade again, which was fair. He had quite a nice time with the people Newt introduced him to, and he liked Newt. He certainly did not like Gally, and thought he would just try to avoid him from now on. He didn’t want to start something with that kind of a person, specially that it looks like he is going to be here for a while. He still has no idea what he was doing here, nor what the others were doing. He sighed to himself, and looked up at the sky, the only thing he managed to like so far.

Suddenly, he heard something. His head snapped towards where the sound came from, fear and curiosity growing in the pit of his stomach. His feet carried him towards where the sound grew louder. He couldn’t see clearly, but he could certainly hear the loud booming of walls hitting each other, and the ground slightly shook beneath his feet.

All of a sudden, the sound stopped, along with Peter. He found himself staring at the massive stone wall that has been haunting him all day. The very one he was asked to ignore. And if things could get any worse, Peter heard the last voice he has been trying so hard to avoid, all day.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing out here?”


	14. Chapter 14

Gally stood a few feet away from Peter, looking at him in disgust. He spotted two other guys standing behind Gally, their expressions matching his.

“Nothing.” Peter shrugged. He really wasn’t doing anything.

Gally scoffed, “And you want me to believe that? Sneaking around while everyone’s asleep to do nothing?”

“Looks like your brains are still stuck where they have been all day.” Peter remarked, trying not to give Gally the reaction he wants.

“Alright, that’s enough. You’re staying the night in the Pit. Get him there.” he snapped, motioning for the two guys behind him to move.

Peter frowned, not even knowing what Gally meant by the Pit, but he assumed that it wasn’t a nice place.   


“You’ll like it there.” Gally smirked, before Peter turned to walk with the two guys who were behind him. They roughly grabbed his arms and led him forward, but Peter yanked his arms away.

“I can walk by myself.” he eyed them both.

Peter didn’t want to go anywhere with these two idiots but he had no choice. He still didn’t want to start something between him and Gally, because he was already fishing for trouble ever since he saw Peter. He didn’t want to give him a reason for being such an ass to him. He reluctantly followed them, until they reached an even darker part of the Glade. He looked down at the ground and found three holes dug in the ground, covered by wooden bars that formed some type of a door. It looked like a prison cell, but one that was dug into the soil. 

_So, that’s why it is called the Pit;_ Peter thought to himself.

One of the boys opened the door and looked at him.

“Well, don’t stand and just stare at me, go on!” he spat. “Get down there.”

Peter hesitantly jumped down into the Pit, his feet easily landing on the hay-covered ground. He was angry at the thought that he could have easily refused, or tried to stop the idiots who forced him down here, but still did nothing. Part of him didn’t want to make a scene, and the other wanted to hit Gally on the head with something. But he didn’t know if he actually had any chance against him. No matter how many people might hate Gally, as Newt has told him, he still had allies. And Peter didn’t know how many allies could Gally have on his side.

“Goodnight, pretty-face.” one of them mocked, as the other shut the door and locked it.

Peter watched as they walked away, their laughter echoing in the silence of the night. He sighed to himself and sat down, bringing his knees up to his chest and locking his arms around them. He rested his chin on one of his knees and closed his eyes, letting his ears adjust to the silence once again. He still couldn’t fall asleep. There was a feeling that kept growing inside him the whole day, up until this moment. Something felt off about this place. It felt like he doesn’t belong here; like this whole place is wrong.

“Psst. New guy, hey.” Peter’s eyes flew open at the whispers he heard, his head looking up through the wooden bars.

There was a floating head that peeked down at him, a lantern next to it, shining a faint orange light between them.

“Uh, hi.” Peter responded, unlocking his arms from around his knees and straightening his back.

“I’m Ned.” the guy smiled; his chubby cheeks showing. He had soft dark hair that slightly fell on his forehead, and small eyes. It was all what Peter could see in the dim light.

“I’m Peter.” Peter smiled back, watching Ned’s smile grow bigger.

“What did you do? Why did Gally’s guys put you in here?” Ned asked, his voice still low.

“Nothing, I—”

“Please, tell me you weren’t trying to sneak into the Maze.” Ned gasped.

“Maze?” Peter raised his eyebrows. “Are you talking about that huge gray wall?”

“Oh my god.” Ned covered his mouth. “I shouldn’t have said that. Newt’s gonna kill me.” He looked troubled.

“Hey, Ned.” Peter called out, trying to calm Ned’s coming nervous breakdown. “Newt’s not gonna kill you, because he won’t know about this.”

“Phew.” Ned sighed in relief, a small smile shaping his lips again.   


“On one condition, though.” Peter held up one finger.

“What is it?” Ned glanced nervously at him.

“Tell me everything you know.”

“I should’ve known.” Ned smacked his forehead. 

“Come on, Ned.” Peter begged.

“Look, I don’t even know much. Newt never tells anyone anything, except for that the Maze is a dangerous place.” He explained.

“Why? Have you been in there?” Peter frowned.

“Me?” Ned laughed. “No, I’d never get in there even if I got paid for it.”

“So, no one ever goes in there?” Peter asked, still confused at the new information he was getting.

Ned hesitated for a second, before he answered. “No, some people go out there, but very special people. No one just decides to go out there on their own.”

“What do you mean special people?”

“They are the strongest Gladers among us. Well built, smart, brave, they’re like the heroes of this place.” Ned smiled in awe.

“What do they exactly do?” Peter asked, his curiosity sparking up again.   


“They roam the Maze, try to memorize the way around.”

“So, you could find a way out.” Peter concluded.

“Exactly.” Ned paused, looking at the lantern next to his head before he turned to Peter again. “You’re not planning to go out there, are you?”

“No, I was just curious.” Peter answered, not entirely sure if that was all.

“I almost forgot.” Ned’s face disappeared into the dark, and Peter heard shuffling before he came back into the light. “Here, you must be hungry. I’m sorry, I wish I could get you out of here, but no one has access to the Pit except, Newt.” he smiled as he handed Peter a piece of bread and a cup of water.

“It’s okay, thank you.” Peter smiled back at him and took his food, careful not to spill them over himself.

He found himself hungrily eating the plain bread Ned gave him, earning a small laugh from him.   


“You _are_ hungry.”

Peter chuckled and wiped his mouth with his sleeve, “Sorry.”

“What brought you out here at this time?” Ned rested his hand on his cheek as he looked down at Peter through the door.

“I can’t sleep.” Peter sighed and rested his head back. 

“What about you? Shouldn’t you be asleep?”

“It is not hard for Gally’s voice to wake someone up.” Ned shrugged.

“Right.” Peter grinned, agreeing with him.

“I think what you did was really cool, by the way.” Ned smiled.

“What did I do?” Peter’s brows furrowed in confusion.

“You talked back at Gally, that’s brave.”

“I don’t know why you’re making such a fuss around him. If everyone just ignores him, things will get way better.” Peter tapped his knee.

“It’s difficult, though.” Ned argued.

“Yeah, I agree.”

Silence filled the air for a few seconds before Peter broke it. “Thanks, Ned.”

“You’re welcome.” he grinned. “If you need anything at any time just let me know. You have a friend here.”

“Of course.” Peter nodded.

“I should get back before anyone wakes up. I advise you to get some sleep; Newt is not gonna let you sit around and do nothing all day.”

“Wait, what do you mean?” Peter asked as he saw Ned pick up the lantern and stand up.

“That will be a surprise for you to find out. Night, Peter.” He shortly waved, before he turned to walk away.

“Night.” Peter said back, mostly to himself because Ned had already left.

He laid on his side and brought his arm beneath his head so he could rest it there. He tried to get as comfortable as he could, but even with the ground full of piled up hay, it was still too hard. After so many attempts to try and fall asleep, his mind finally drifted off, sending him into a hazy dream that felt almost real when he woke up the next morning.

_ “WCKD is good.” _

That was the first sentence that kept repeating itself in his mind the moment his eyes opened; it was pretty much the only thing he remembers from his dream.   


He blinked multiple times and saw Newt’s head hovering over him.

“Morning, sleepyhead.” he kneeled down next to Peter as he sat up and rubbed the hay out of his hair and clothes.

“Sorry you had to stay your first night down here. I made sure that it won’t happen again.” Newt reassured.

“What do you mean?” Peter frowned, squinting his eyes at the bright light of the sun.

“I might have punished him, in my own way.” Newt shrugged, putting on a fake bossy look.

He chuckled, “He must be pissed.”

“Like that’s something new for Gally?” Newt raised his eyebrows. “You’ll get used to it.” He smacked Peter’s shoulder and helped him up to his feet.

“Why are you doing this? Why are you helping me? You don’t even know who I am.” Peter wondered out loud, not giving himself the chance to think before he asked.

“Don’t flatter yourself. That’s just because you’re new.” Newt jumped out of the hole they were standing in. Peter followed, standing next to him.

He looked around him, taking in his surroundings for the millionth time. “I don’t think I’m going to get used to any of this, soon.” He breathed, his eyes roaming the busy Glade.

His breath slightly hitched in his throat as he noticed something about the place. He didn’t know how it slipped his mind, maybe it was too dark for him to see it last night, given that he was taken to a new part of the Glade where the Pit was. He hasn’t even been around the whole Glade yet.

“Are we, are we trapped in here?” Peter asked, slowly spinning in a circle, looking at the gray stone wall that surrounded them, forming a square.

His mind connected the pieces together; _Ned telling him that this is a maze, him seeing the wall first thing when they brought him out of the box but not being able to see to where it extends._

“I wouldn’t address it like that.” Newt clicked his tongue. “It’s a new life, gotta embrace it.” He shrugged, looking ahead.

“A new _life_?” Peter gaped, fear and confusion overcoming him. “How long have you been here?”

“A month, maybe? I think I lost track of the days, but mostly a month, yeah.” Newt nodded; his brows furrowed.

“No.” Peter whispered. “This is, this is not right.” He shook his head.

“What happened to you? You were all butterflies and daisies minutes ago.” Newt smirked.

“Do you remember anything? Do you—” Peter sighed, gripping his forehead, trying to ease his spinning thoughts.

“Do I what?” Newt asked, concern clear in his eyes.

“I—I had this dream last night.”

“Looks like sleeping in the Pit rubbed off on you.” he sarcastically remarked.

“Yeah.” Peter whispered, putting an end to their conversation as he got the hint that what he was saying wasn’t taken seriously.

The growing unsettling feeling kept him company all the time, no matter how hard he tried to shake it off. He didn’t understand how he can’t remember anything about himself, yet being able to understand everything around him. He spotted an opening through one of the four walls that surrounded them and his curiosity grew bigger. He wondered if every wall had an opening, too, or was it just this one? And what did it lead to? What could possibly be lurking in there?   


So many unanswered questions crowded his mind, but he pushed them all to the back of it. He had to focus on what he was doing, now, and keep himself busy enough, so he wouldn’t have any time to think. Peter spent his day chopping off wood alongside Newt and other Gladers.

“Looks like I should’ve let you chop off the wood all by yourself.” Newt panted, wiping the sweat on his forehead and brushing his blond hair out of his eyes.

“Why would you say that?” Peter chuckled, resting his axe on the ground. 

“Have you seen your pile?” Newt gaped, pointing behind Peter.

Peter followed his gaze and his eyes landed on the pile of firewood he has chopped so far. His eyes grew bigger at its size. It could almost reach his waist while standing up. He didn’t even feel the amount of exhaustion he should be feeling after all this effort.

“I—” He blew out a breath and shrugged. “I don’t even know when that happened.”

“That doesn’t matter as long as the job gets done.” Newt winked.

“Yeah.” Peter laughed, picking up his axe once again and easily hitting the piece of wood in front of him.

He had no idea how he felt that energetic, or how light the axe felt in his hands. He was sure that every Glader around him was doing his best, but none of them looked as unfazed as Peter. They were sweating, panting, and some of them took breaks every now and then, even Newt. Then there was Peter’s axe that kept cutting firewood non-stop; which only added to his constantly building confusion.

During their task of the day, as Newt called it, Peter spotted an Asian- looking guy approaching Newt. His hair was black and styled in a spiky look. His figure was masculine, biceps visible as his sleeves were slightly rolled up. His clothes were different than what the other Gladers were wearing. His outfit was neater, the fabric stronger than the ones he and the others were wearing. His eyes found Peter on his way to Newt, as they weren’t standing too far from each other.

“Hey, Newbie.” The Asian-looking boy nodded at him, before Newt noticed his friend’s presence and let his axe down.

Peter just nodded in return, and went back to what he was doing, his eyes occasionally shifting between them and his work. He watched as they chatted for a few seconds, both their facial expressions serious, before Newt urged the guy to walk away from the working Gladers.

“Go on, fireball, do your thing.” Newt grinned at Peter when he caught him looking, causing him to chuckle at the nickname even if he felt slightly embarrassed that Newt caught him literally staring at them.

Minutes later, he returned without his friend. He was about to resume cutting the rest of his pile, but Peter interrupted him when he spoke.

“Is there something wrong?” He asked, taking a closer look at Newt’s furrowed brows.

“It’s not easy being the boss around here, you know.” He lightly joked, sitting down on the ground, Peter joining him.

Peter noticed something about Newt; that despite the fact that he was the one in charge of everyone here, he didn’t just sit back and let them do everything at his command. He is involved in everything, knows everyone, and most importantly knows how to act in every situation. It amazed Peter that he was able to notice all of that in just two days, today being the second day. Although Newt didn’t look older than Peter by much, it seemed that he was a powerful person around here, not physically, but personality wise; everyone respected him and listened to him without second thoughts.

“Is it something that has to do with the Maze?” Peter blurted out, his heart skipping a beat at what Newt’s reaction might be, specially, that he was the first person to tell him to stay away from it.

Newt looked down and laughed to himself, “I see you’ve met Ned already.”   


“I—He—No, I mean, yeah, but—”

“Unclench, Peter.” Newt laughed harder. “I know you know. Ned told me everything this morning.”

“What?” Peter asked, completely confused, because as he remembers, Ned’s first concern was Newt not knowing about any of this.

“If one thing you should know, Ned is a terrible liar. He couldn’t keep his mouth shut.” He grinned.

“I can clearly see that.” Peter nodded. He nudged his axe with his foot, pondering over whether he should ask again or not.

“So, are you gonna tell me?” He peeked at him.

“Jeez, you really are one curious cat, aren’t you?!” Newt jokingly snapped. 

Peter shrugged, smiling “It’s one of my gifts.”

“Of course.” Newt rolled his eyes. 

“To answer your question, yes, we are trapped here. But, as you can see,” Newt gestured around them, letting Peter look around as well. He saw the Gladers that were chopping off the firewood, others were shaping wood sticks into spears, others lighting up fires, and others were just hanging around.

“We have managed to make this a home for us. Here, we are a family, and whether you like it or not, you’re going to be a part of it.” Newt pointed at him.

“Doesn’t sound like I have much of a choice, anyway.” Peter mocked, shrugging.

“Do you want to spend tonight, too, in the Pit?”

“God, no.” Peter chuckled.

“Then shut up.” He looked ahead again, silence filling the air around them.

“The wall you asked about, and the very same you saw this morning. It’s not just one wall. They’re four different walls, each of them has a separate opening.” Newt started.

“And these are the gates to the Maze?” Peter asked, referring to the opening he saw earlier.

“Yes. They close at night. God knows why, but we’re still trying to figure out.” Newt frowned.

“That’s what you were discussing with the guy I saw earlier?”

“Yeah. That’s Minho, by the way.” Newt introduced. “You haven’t seen him yesterday because,” He paused, hesitantly taking a deep breath.

“Because what?” Peter pushed, feeling eager than ever to understand more. “Well, because he’s a Runner.”

“A Runner?” Peter frowned.

“The Runners are the strongest and bravest of us. They go to the Maze at dawn every day and return by nightfall, right before the walls of the Maze close.” Peter nodded at Newt’s words, remembering what Ned told him last night.

“And the time in between is probably taken for a rest.” Peter concluded.

“Exactly.” Newt agreed. “Those people risk their lives every day, the moment they decide to go into that death hole. We all owe it to them.”

The idea of exploring _that_ death hole awakened something in Peter, and next thing he knew, the words just came out of his mouth with no preceding thoughts.

“What if—What if I want to be a Runner?” Peter hesitantly asked.

“You?” Newt chuckled, trying not to laugh harder. “No way.”

“And why is that?” Peter asked, slightly offended.

“Have you not been listening to any of what I said?” Newt looked at him as if he was the craziest person on the planet.

“No, I have! And if anyone were in my place, they would have thought the same.” Peter unintentionally raised his voice.

“No, not anyone. These are thoughts of a person who has a death wish.” Newt shook his head. “Besides, it’s your second day, for god’s sake.”

“So what it’s my second day? What difference would it make? You’ve been here for a month and nothing changed.” he frantically threw his hands in the air.

“Careful what you say.” Newt warned.

“I mean, it’s time you try harder.” he lowered his voice in a more pleading tone.

“I appreciate the courage, but no. It’s not happening.” Newt shook his head again, standing up.

Peter followed, “Why?!”

Newt’s taller figure hovered over him as they stood, “Are you seriously telling me that _you_ , out of all Gladers, have the magical way that will get us out of here?”

“No, Newt. I have nothing. I don’t know what could be waiting for me out there. I could die, maybe I could actually find a way out, I don’t know!” He found himself yelling again so he stopped. “But it’s worth the try.”

“What’s going on here?” Peter heard the _all too familiar_ unpleasant voice from a few feet away before he came in sight.

Peter looked around him and found that people were starting to gather around him and Newt. Gally wasn’t standing too far from them, and he could spot Minho at the very back, watching from the distance with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Peter here,” Newt yelled, addressing the gathering Gladers. “Wants to become a Runner.”


	15. Chapter 15

“Well, you heard the boy.” Gally shrugged glancing back and forth between Peter and Newt. For the first time since Peter showed up, Gally was actually backing him up on something.

“Have you _completely_ lost your mind? No! He won’t even make it past the first quarter mile.” Newt snapped at Gally.

Peter frowned, not understanding what they are talking about.

“Then we shall have the joy of watching him fail with his own will.” Gally chuckled, shooting Peter a dirty look.

Peter’s blood boiled in his veins at Gally’s words. He wanted to slap himself across the face for thinking that he backed him up on something.

“It’s alright,” Peter’s head snapped in the direction where the voice came from. He spotted the guy Newt told him about earlier, walking towards them. Minho.

He stopped next to Gally and looked at Peter with a look that he couldn’t read, but he could see that his eyes carried a bit of humor as he spoke. “I’ll go against him.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me.” Newt grunted, looking to the side, away from their faces.

“Go against me in what?” Peter finally spoke up.

“You’re literally asking for this, huh?” Newt snapped at him, but Peter couldn’t understand whether it was because he was actually underestimating him, or he was trying to tell him that what he was asking for was too dangerous.

“Tell him, Newt. Don’t go all too soft on him, now. Grant him his little wish.” Gally encouraged, patting Newt’s shoulder repeatedly as he spoke, but he only swatted his hand away.

“Fine,” Newt breathed, licking his thin lips before he spoke. “If you want to become a Runner, you must prove yourself.”

“How do I do this?” He crossed his arms over his chest.

Newt shook his head, obviously regretting what he’s about to say, and proving Peter’s thoughts about him finding what he wants too dangerous. “You race the best Runner. _If_ you win the race, wohoo! You’re a Runner.”

“That’s it?” Peter was surprised at the simple task.

“Oh, it’s not just any race.” Gally smirked.

“I don’t understand.” Peter frowned again.

“C’mere.” Newt gestured, and stepped forward, leading the way alongside Minho who walked next to him in silence while Gally trailed behind them. Peter followed as well, but kept his distance.

He was startled by Ned’s presence when he suddenly grabbed his arm, catching his attention. “Ned? What are you doing?” Peter whispered, glancing at the three guys in front of him who didn’t seem to hear Ned.

“Trying to get you back to your senses, obviously.” Ned aggressively whispered back.

“Ned—”

“You told me you weren’t planning on going out there!” He argued.

“I’m not going out there for sure, I could lose the race, who knows?” Peter shrugged, although he wasn’t really nervous.

“No kidding! Minho is the best Runner, no one except for the other Runners could beat him.” Ned pushed, still whisper-yelling while trying to catch up with Peter’s pace.

“Love your optimism, Ned, really.” Peter huffed.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it this way.” Ned sighed. “Please, don’t do this. You don’t want to become a Runner.” He shook his head, his pleading eyes staring into Peter’s determined ones.

“Relax, Ned. Do you really think I have zero chance of proving myself?” Peter chuckled, and tried to ignore the uneasy feeling that started to build up in the pit of his stomach.

“I like having you as a friend, Peter.” Ned said, his eyes a little sad. Ned didn’t look as old as Peter and the other Gladers, but he was sure he wasn’t too young to be here. It was the way his face showed so much concern that made him look too innocent.

“It will stay this way, don’t worry.” Peter smiled reassuringly at him, earning a small smile back from Ned. “Stay behind and maybe cheer for me, yeah?”

Ned smiled and nodded, “Yeah.” Peter watched as his friend came to a halt and then he picked up his pace, catching up to his fellow Gladers.

The three of them stopped, causing Peter to stop in his tracks behind them. They turned to face him; different expressions written across their faces. Worry, humor, and even gloating ones. They made room for him to walk past them, and he sucked in a deep breath at the sight in front of him. He saw a wooden fence shaped in a square, surrounding yet another part of the Glade he hasn’t seen before. The space the fence surrounded was huge, but that wasn’t what worried him; it was what lied in there. His eyes skimmed the area, nervousness stirring inside him.

“Already changed your mind?” Gally smirked next to him.

Peter didn’t reply; he just glared at him, then looked back at the place he’s supposed to run, in the next few minutes. Now that he saw what type of test he will have to undergo, he understood why Ned and Newt weren’t comfortable with Peter doing it. His eyes studied the fallen big tree trunks, wire spikes, and handmade barriers (which weren’t of short height) that were scattered all over the place.

He felt Newt come stand on his other side, “Are you sure you still want to do this?” He whispered.

Peter looked back at him, “Yes.” He nodded, determination overweighing the uneasiness inside him.

“I can’t believe this.” Newt shook his head.

“What happens if um, if I don’t win the race?” Peter asked, looking ahead of him.

“That’s for us to decide.” Gally jumped in the conversation, pushing Peter towards the fence. Peter stumbled forward but regained his balance quickly, looking back at Gally who stood with a smug smirk on his face while Newt glared at him.

“Alright, Gladers, warm up!” Newt yelled, nodding towards Peter, motioning for him to walk forward and past the rail. Minho was already in there, casually stretching different parts of his body.

Peter nervously glanced around him, and found almost the whole Glade gathered, standing around the area. He made his way into the obstacle-filled field and stood next to Minho.

“ _Remember, you need to run over the barriers, and not past them._ ” Newt shouted again, “ _The faster to reach the other side, wins_.”

Peter drew in deep breaths, trying to calm himself. He stretched his legs, and rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the stress. _Okay, he could do this, right?_ His mind was in debate. He is about to go against the fastest Runner in the Glade in a field full of traps that made it seem almost impossible for someone to overcome. He glanced at Minho, whose eyes were narrow and focused ahead of him. He smiled when he noticed Peter looking at him.

“Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you, Newbie.”

Peter didn’t like the fact that everyone was belittling him when he needed the support so much, but just like Minho said, he’s a newbie; a nobody to them. He’s just a stranger who was trying to crawl his way into their family. And now, was his only chance to prove himself. It was now or never.

Peter set one foot forward, slightly shifting between them. He leaned forward and got into ready position; _he can do this._

“You won’t need to.” Peter replied, but he wasn’t sure if Minho heard, because Newt’s voice broke the silence again.

“Ready?” Peter and Minho exchanged a look, before each one of them looked in front of him again.

“ _Go!_ ”

They both broke into a sprint as soon as they heard Newt. The voices of the Gladers created a noise in the background, but Peter couldn’t quite hear them because of how loud his pulse was in his ears as his feet ran at their fastest. Minho was already a few steps ahead, reaching the first obstacle in his way and easily dodging it. Th crowd’s voices grew louder as they watched Minho beating Peter, but he ignored them. His gaze went back to what he was about to face; an oak trunk. He picked up his pace, although he was pretty sure he was doing his best, before he lifted his feet off the ground to jump over the trunk. He landed in a semi-squat position, barely keeping himself from falling before he put himself into action again, running forward.

The crowd ‘booed’ and laughed when Peter landed on the ground, but he shrugged it off. He kept running, his arms slightly flailing on either side of him as he struggled to catch up to Minho. He ducked down to the ground, dodging the wire spikes that hung in the middle of the road. His chest burned the longer he ran, sweat running down his forehead. He sprinted towards another fallen tree trunk, glancing briefly at Minho to see where he was. They were almost at the same pace, now, and Peter wondered if it was because Minho was going easy on him like he said, or he was actually faster than him.

He leaped over the trunk and landed on his feet this time. He couldn’t help but grin when he heard the crowd cheering louder as he kept running forward. He glanced to his side and found Minho nowhere. His brows furrowed before he looked behind him and found Minho with a puzzled expression on his face, steps behind Peter. He quickly looked back in front of him to stay focused, a mixture of joy and disbelief running through his blood as he realized that he outpaced the faster Runner in the Glade. However, his short- lived moment of triumph didn’t last as he felt his ankle twist, causing him to trip and fall face first on the ground. The crowd broke into a fit of laughter again, and Peter’s cheeks flushed. His nostrils flared in anger as he rose to his feet, spotting Minho who has now caught up to him, thanks to the unfortunate incident.

“Too tired already?” Minho smirked, slowing down to look at Peter.

Peter looked to the side, examining what was left for them to run. He ignored Minho’s remark and marched forward in spite of the mild pain he felt in his ankle. Minho was hot on his heels, but they were coming to an end anyway, with Peter outrunning him again. There were only two barriers left in his way, and they weren’t really too far from each other, someone in good shape would be able to skip them in one leap, only if they weren’t that high. His heart hammered in his chest the closer he got to the final part, not knowing if he had any chance to get over them quickly enough.

Peter was running at his fastest, before his feet left the ground once again with his legs bent beneath him. His eyes went wide when he saw the first barrier underneath him, the second one following. It felt like it was all happening in slow motion when he tucked his legs closer to his chest, his arms wrapping around them and flipped in the air. He landed safely onto the ground on one knee, his right arm extended behind him. His eyes were still wide, ready to bulge out of his sockets any second.

His whole body was vibrating with energy, and his breaths were ragged in his chest. He had no idea what just happened, or how he managed to do that. He didn’t even know if he beat Minho or not, because everything went silent around him. The Gladers’ voices had died down and only the sound of the birds chirping was heard. He slowly rose to his feet, his eyes not daring to leave the ground. He looked around him and found eyes as wide as his staring back at him. They looked like they have just seen a ghost. Even Minho stood merely a foot behind with his jaw nearly hitting the ground. He spun the other way around and found Newt surprised, and Gally had a deep scowl on his face. Ned stood at the back with an expression that matched these of the people around him.

“What the...” Peter heard Minho breathe in shock as he took a couple of steps closer to him.

The Gladers broke into a wave of loud cheers after that, and even some of them were screaming, their eyes on Peter. He felt relieved and confused at the same time as the group of boys jumped over the fence and ran towards him, expressions of joy written all over their faces.

Minho approached him with a wide grin on his face. “I don’t know how the hell you did that, but not bad, Newbie.” He patted his back in a friendly manner.

“Thank you.” Peter smiled back.

“Enjoy the glory while you can.” Minho winked. “But not too much. You may know some monkey tricks, but I’m still faster.” He raised his eyebrows.

“Come on, just admit it. I beat you.” Peter giggled.

“Nah, I let you.” He smirked and walked away, wriggling his way out of the gathering crowd.

There were so many people around him, all congratulating him, some ruffling his hair, some forcing him to shake their hands.

“Looks like we’ve got ourselves a Runner!” Newt grinned from a distance, the others making room for him to approach Peter.

“I did win, didn’t I?” Peter asked, still in disbelief.

“You should have seen yourself!” Ned appeared from behind Newt, a giddy expression on his face. “You just jumped really high and I was like—Oh no, he’s gonna fall again, but dude, you flipped in the air.” He ranted, his eyes glossy from how excited and awed he sounded.

Peter smiled wide, and didn’t know what to say. He had no idea how he did that, or where that came from, but he was glad that he proved himself when everyone around him kept doubting him, even himself.

“Don’t praise him too much, Ned. He might get all cocky on us, now.” Newt chuckled, shooting Peter an amused look.

The crowd around them was starting to clear, the only ones left were Newt and Ned who stood with Peter in the middle of the test field.

“Never.” Peter shook his head. His cheeks hurt from how wide he was still smiling but he didn’t mind. He felt happy, welcomed, and almost warm.

“I knew you could do it.” Newt shrugged.

“What?!”

“Yeah,” Newt said. “At least I did before you landed on your face.” he chuckled.

“Shut up.” Peter laughed, lightly pushing Newt’s shoulder. “Seriously though, if you knew I could do it, why did you keep messing with my head until the last minute?” He was confused.

Newt just shrugged with a sheepish smile on his face.

“It was a test, wasn’t it?” Peter asked.

Newt nodded, then all three of them laughed together. “We shall celebrate tonight.” Newt smacked Peter’s shoulder. “Ned, let them know that there’s a celebration tonight so they could start with lighting the fires.”

“I’m on it.” Ned nodded at him, before Newt patted both their shoulders once again and left.

“Hey, how is your ankle?” Ned asked, pointing down at his foot.

“Oh,” Peter looked down at his foot as he extended it and easily moved it without feeling any type of pain, which was both surprising and confusing. “It’s... fine?” Peter focused back on Ned.

“You’re lucky.” Ned shrugged.

“I guess so.”

A few hours later, bonfires were lit everywhere, groups of guys huddled at every corner. Peter sat with Newt, Ned and Minho around a fire as they chatted and shared laughs together. Ned has just offered them some sort of drink that he has made.

“Go ahead, try it.” Ned urged.

The three guys raised their glasses and chugged. Newt and Minho choked and spat the whole thing out into the fire, while Peter forced it down his throat, his face probably showing how disgusted he was.

“It’s that bad?” Ned’s shoulders fell.

“That’s fucking disgusting.” Newt coughed, ridding himself of what was left in his system of that drink.

“Whatever the hell that was, please don’t make it again.” Minho shook his head, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

“What? Peter loved it! Right, Peter?” Ned looked at him, while Peter struggled to keep a straight face at the foul taste that spread in his mouth.

“He looks like he’s about to die, Ned! He’s just too polite to admit it.” Newt pointed at Peter.

“Peter?” Ned glanced at him with hopeful eyes. “I’m sorry, bud.” Peter admitted, sadly smiling.

“Oh god, I just smelt it.” Ned waved his hand in front of his face at the stench of Peter’s breath.

“Excuse me, folks, I don’t want to throw up, now.” Minho got up, “I have a long day tomorrow.” he stretched his bulky arms behind his head.

“Yeah, Peter, try to get some sleep. I’ll wake you at dawn.” Newt announced.

“Dawn?” Peter gaped.

“’Told you to enjoy the glory while it lasts, Peter.” Minho shrugged.

“Hey, you just called me by my real name.” Peter cheered, feeling a little happy that he was no longer referred to as the newbie.

Minho just laughed and shook his head, “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

Newt left after his friend while Ned and Peter sat by the fire. Peter laid down, resting his hands under his head. Ned moved to the other side of the fire, facing Peter. He propped himself on his elbows and gazed at the live flames before him. A question came to Peter’s mind as he sat with Ned.

“Hey, Ned?” he turned his head to the side. “How old are you?”

“Last time I checked, I was seventeen.” he chuckled.

“And when was that?”

“A few months ago, I guess.” Ned frowned.

“Do you ever think about your—you know.” Peter struggled to put it into words.

“My life?” Ned asked, reading Peter’s thoughts.

“Yeah.”

“I sometimes like to think that I was rich and came from a really big family who had this awesome beach house.” Ned laughed.

“That’s so you.” Peter joined him, laughing along.

“What about you?”

“I don’t know, I can’t really remember anything.”

“Yeah, I know. We were all like that when we first came here. But it will get better by time.” Ned nodded reassuringly.

“Did you have dreams? Dreams that felt so real?” Peter asked, remembering his disturbing dream from last night.

“Oh, yeah, these.” Ned frowned. “Don’t worry, it will go away after two or three days, maximum.”

“They better.” Peter whispered, feeling relieved that he wasn’t the only one who experienced this.

“You know, there’s one thing that I remember. Vaguely, though.”

“What is it?” Peter asked, feeling curious.

“I have a younger sister, I guess. She’s barely a toddler. I can’t remember much. It’s just a hazy image of a little girl with no features.”

“I wish I could remember anything.” Peter admitted, angry at the numerous failed attempts he tried to remember anything about himself.

“Do you think we will be able to get out of here?” he asked out of curiosity.

“I’d like to think so.” Ned smiled. “I’d like to think that you are going to make that possible.”

“Me?” Peter asked, feeling surprised.

“Duh? Everyone’s talking about you, Peter. So, yeah, I would like to think that you will be the reason behind me reuniting with my little sister.” he smiled, his eyes holding so much hope in them that it scared Peter.

“Ned, that’s, I—” Peter blew out a breath. “I think you’re judging me all too soon. Just because I got lucky today, doesn’t mean that I’ll be lucky tomorrow, too.”

“I know what I’m saying.” Ned shook his head. “Come on, I’ve kept you up long enough. You need your energy for tomorrow.” Ned urged, getting up.

Peter got up and followed Ned back to where they sleep, settling in his hammock bed.  
“Night, Peter. Good luck tomorrow.” Ned whispered from his hammock, his head peeking from under his blanket.

“Night, Ned.” Peter whispered back, joy overcoming him.

He closed his eyes and let himself sleep, feeling satisfied with how his day went. He fell asleep knowing that he proved to himself that he was no less than the others around him, and even more. He carried the weight of Ned’s words in his mind and let them sink in, serving as a goal for him to achieve as long as he was breathing and his legs carried him out there, every day.


	16. Chapter 16

_ “Tell me, Mr. Parker, are you fond of science?” _

_ “Yes!” Young Peter answered, a little too excitedly. “It was my favorite subject in school, you know, before..” Peter paused; nervously fumbling with his hands. He didn’t want to remember why schools were shut down. _

_ “Of course.” the bald man put his hand on Peter’s slightly bony shoulder, nodding. _

_ “My men told me that you have been doing great with your job.” he smiled down at him. _

_ “Th-thank you, sir.” Peter looked up at the huge man standing in front of him. _

_ “How old are you, Peter?” he asked, kneeling down on one knee so he could be of eye level with him. _

_ “I’m 14.” he smiled in pride. _

_ “You’re a big man, now.” The guy patted his shoulder. “I’m sorry about the misfortunate incident that took away Mr. Parker, your uncle.” _

_Peter gulped, his eyes tearing up at the memory of his uncle whose death hasn’t been quite forgotten yet._

_ “Thank you, sir.” Peter found himself repeating his words, because he didn’t know what else to say. _

_ “What if you had the chance to right some wrongs, Peter? What if you had a chance to make this world a better place?” the man’s eyes stared directly into Peter’s.  _ _ “For the sake of Uncle Ben.” he squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. _

_ “W-what do you mean?” _

_ “I’m offering you a job, here, Peter. You are going to be someone who helps build a better future for the whole world.” _

_ “Me?” Peter gaped. “But—but what will I do?” _

_ “You will do what you are best at; science.” he smiled, standing up. _

_ Peter smiled so wide. He couldn’t believe his ears. He couldn’t believe that he, out of all the others who came with him, was offered a job at one of the greatest places he has ever heard about. _

_ “That would be an honor, Mr. Fisk.” Peter breathed in joy. “Thank you, again.” _

_“It’s not me who you should be thanking, Peter.” Mr. Fisk shook his head._

_ “Right,” Peter nodded. “WCKD is good.” _

Peter’s eyes snapped open, his body jerking awake as if he was about to trip and fall but quickly regained his balance. His heart was frantically beating in his chest as he tried to breathe normally.

“Woah woah, were you running a marathon already?” Newt’s voice startled Peter, who was already startled on his own.

“How long have you been here?” he frowned, struggling to sit up in his wobbly hammock bed.

“Long enough to see you jump out of your skin.” Newt chuckled. “You’re alright, though, right?” he looked closely at him.

“Yeah, yeah.” Peter whispered, looking down at his hands that he didn’t notice were shaking until he grabbed his boots from where they laid on the ground.

“Alright then. Sort yourself out and meet me outside.” Newt pointed back at the vacant field of green behind him.

The place where the Gladers slept wasn’t exactly a room, but it was considered shelter at least. It was filled with pillars, both stone and wood, where the hammocks were tied. A layer of hay made a ceiling over their heads, connected together by thin wooden rods. Peter slept in one of the beds that were closest to the exit, which allowed him a better view of the Glade and if it was a full moon night, he would be lucky to enjoy staring up at what he could see from the sky where their ceiling ended. Peter strapped on his boots and sat there for a few minutes.

He couldn’t understand how a dream could feel so real like that. And is it even possible for someone to dream about their young self? He didn’t understand anything, but he didn’t like how he was feeling right now. Disturbed, confused, and on edge. This time, his dream was a bit clearer than the one he had on his first night here, yet it made no difference. It left him feeling puzzled. One thing that kept itching at the back of his mind, the sentence that he himself said in his dream this time.

_ WCKD is good. _

He had no idea what or who was WCKD, and why is it good? Who was that man with him in his dream? And who is Uncle Ben? Nothing made sense, and the more he thought about it, the more it became disturbing. So, Peter stood up and went over to where Newt was. Today was an important day, and he had to be at his best.

“Ready?” Newt asked.   


“Yeah.” He nodded.

“You don’t seem ready, but I’ll take your word for it.” Newt mumbled, probably thinking that Peter wouldn’t hear him.

Peter didn’t really blame him; he must be looking like a zombie right now. He shivered as the cold breeze of the night blew against his damp shirt while he walked by Newt’s side.

“Since you haven’t talked until now, I’m assuming you had a weird dream again?” he playfully asked.

Peter shook his head, “It’s nothing. You said it yourself, it must be the place. I’ll get used to it.”   


_Hopefully,_ he thought to himself.

“You better.”

It was still dark, but Peter assumed that sunrise was near. He could tell by how cold it was, right now.

“Minho is waiting for us right there.” Newt pointed at a figure in the distance that became clearer the closer they walked to him.

“Wait, shouldn’t Minho be getting ready to go out to the Maze?” Peter frowned.

“Now, you’re awake.” Newt chuckled. “That’s right, but he will be teaching you some stuff today. We will.”

“I’m not going out there today?” Peter asked, confusion overtaking him.   


“Absolutely not?” Newt answered, as a matter of fact.

He stared at him in shock as they both stopped in the middle of the way. “Why? I mean, I beat Minho yesterday—”

“What? You thought this was a one plus one equals two?” he laughed.

“Well, I can’t think of anything, because no one has actually told me anything useful!” Peter snapped.

“I wasn’t wrong when I called you fireball.” Newt shook his head, laughing.   


“Newt—”

“Stop being a pain in the ass and come with me. You’ll find out everything you want to know.” He urged Peter to walk with him again.

Moving across the Glade was one of the things that got on his nerves, because the place was huge. Whoever built this place, must have built it in years. _Why would anyone build such a place, anyway?_ Newt and him finally reached Minho, who was standing by a small hut with a lantern in his hand.

“Couldn’t keep your mouths shut until you got here.” Minho snapped, opening the door and hanging the lantern in there. Peter followed Newt in there and shut the door behind him.

He looked around him at the small space. He found a huge table in the middle of the hut where he saw a maquette of the Maze spread out across it, causing his jaw to almost drop to the ground. The first thing he spotted was the small empty square in the middle of it.

“Don’t tell me that this—”

“Is the Glade.” Newt confirmed Peter’s thoughts.

As huge as it looked to Peter in real life, it was nothing compared to the figure he saw in front of him. The Glade looked like a pin that was lost in a bundle of hay, and that bundle of hay was the Maze. The patterns of the Maze created from small pieces of wood extended everywhere. Random shapes, walls shaping concentric circles around the Glade, ending in different routes. Peter could have sworn that his eyes would have fallen out of their sockets if Newt hadn’t snapped him out of it.

“Hey, Fireball, don’t lose your spark on us now.” Newt snapped his fingers, shifting Peter’s focus from the map to him.

“You built this by yourselves?” he looked at the two guys standing with him.

“You’re not the only one who wants to get out of here, after all.” Newt answered quietly. “But you can’t go yell it at everyone’s faces, Peter. It’s not how you build a family. When someone looks up to you, you have to give them your best; even if deep down you feel like you are terribly failing.”

“Is that why you told me to embrace being here in the first place?” Peter asked, suddenly feeling sad for his friend, and for every time he tried to start an argument about wanting to leave this place.

“Kind of. I mean, look around,” he shrugged. “You have barely been here for two days and everyone already loves you. You’ve got me, Minho, and Ned by your side.” he looked at Minho who nodded in agreement.

“How can you not embrace that?” Newt wondered.

“Of course, I do.” Peter nodded. “I’m just—I don’t know if I’m the right person to have you all on my side. I mean, I haven’t done anything.”

“Yet.” Newt replied.

“And, well, only time will tell.” Minho spoke up, patting Peter’s back.

“Let’s get to work before Minho goes out to the Maze.” Newt clapped his hands.

“Okay, so, Peter, these are the patterns of the Maze walls from the inside.” Minho explained, pointing at the different routes Peter saw.

“Our job as Runners, is to find clues and patterns that could eventually lead us out of here.”

“Have you reached anything so far?” Peter crossed his arms.

“Not much, but we were able to figure out that the walls change, creating different paths.”

“What do you mean ‘change’?” he frowned.

“They shift; change paths as I said.” Minho shrugged.

“But all within the main routes.” Peter concluded, understanding more.

“Yes. See, wall number 3 over there,” Minho pointed at a wall on the left. “It should change tonight.”

“It changes at night?” Peter asked.

“Yeah.” Minho nodded. “And recently, the four entrances to the Maze have been closing at night.”

“Why at night, though?” Peter wondered, staring at both of them.

“We are still trying to figure out this part.” Newt leaned forward onto the table; his brows furrowed in deep thought.

“Something happened the last time I was there.” Minho announced.

“Yesterday.” Newt added.

“Yeah.” Minho answered.

“Did you see anything unusual?” Peter asked, although he doesn’t know what is usual and what is not.

“No. Not yet, but I heard something. It was like an animal screaming.”   


“And that hasn’t happened before...” Peter said.

Newt shook his head. “No. That’s something else. And that’s why we both decided that no Runner can go out there unarmed anymore.”

“Whatever it is that is lurking out there, it won’t be long before it finds its way to us.” Minho said, turning around and picking off something that was hanging on the wall.

“See this?” Minho raised a brown leather vest, showing it to Peter. The vest had two holes in the back, obviously used to carry something.

Peter nodded, urging Minho to continue talking. “You get to wear this every time you go out to the Maze. It is used for carrying daggers, which Newt will show you in a few minutes, and he will be the one teaching you how to use them.”

Peter watched as Minho put on his vest, Newt handing him two daggers that he skillfully cross-slid them in his back. “And these,” Minho showed him a pair of brown leather open gloves as he put them on. “Are for your hands; you never know what you might need to climb or crawl under, in there.”

“And one last thing,” Newt added, handing Minho some sort of a strap that held a smaller knife than the ones he had on his back.

“That’s for emergency. You strap it round your ankle like that and hopefully don’t forget about it.” Minho said, tapping his ankle after he strapped the knife carrier around it. “And you’re good to go.”

“That’s it?” Peter asked, surprised.

“I’m sorry, were you expecting machine guns and snipers?” Newt sarcastically replied.

“No, but a couple of knives won’t do it either.” Peter shrugged.

“Well, I hate to break it to you, Peter, but that’s all we have.” Newt answered. “We’ve got people working on spears and different kind of weapons round the clock. We even managed to create a couple of crossbows, but we haven’t tried them yet.”

“I know you’re doing your best, of course.” Peter nodded.

“Alright, it’s time for me to take off.” Minho announced, grabbing both Peter and Newt’s attention.

“Yeah, it’s about time.” Newt agreed.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you? I could be of help.” Peter offered one last time.

“You,” Newt grabbed his shoulders. “Are not going anywhere, unless _I_ decide that you’re well trained and ready to go.”

“Besides, what could you help me with, Peter? Your monkey tricks are unbeatable, I’ll give you that, but listen to Newt, he knows better.” he  nodded towards Newt before he headed out of the door, leaving Peter to —a struggling not to laugh— Newt.

“Shut up.” Peter rolled his eyes, trying not to smile.

“You are one hell of a stubborn one.” Newt chuckled.

“You gave me no choice!” Peter snapped, raising his eyebrows.

“And it’s time to feed your fire before you burn it out on me.” Newt sighed, leading him towards where the weapons were displayed on one of the walls of the hut, they were in.

Peter spent almost the whole day with Newt, learning how to use his daggers and how to shoot them from a distance. Newt was impressed with how fast Peter was learning, which only added to Peter’s building up confidence. He would occasionally spend some time with Ned if Newt let him have a break, and now was one of those times. They sat next to each other on the ground, their legs folded in a crisscross position. They sat under the roof of, Peter wouldn’t really call it a kitchen, but it was where they made their food.

He took a spoonful of his soup as he stared at the busy field. Peter could tell it was way past midday, from how the sun was heading for its set down. His stomach turned, the closer nightfall became, and there was still no sign of Minho. He only went out with another two, considering the new circumstances. Newt has told him that the Runners could return from the Maze at any time, as long as the walls were still open.

“Hey, you okay?” Ned nudged him with his elbow.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m good.” Peter nodded, taking another spoonful of his food, keeping himself busy.

“Stop lying, Peter. I can see that you haven’t been acting like your usual self all day. Not just now.”

Peter just stayed silent and fiddled with his spoon, not knowing whether to say what is on his mind or not. He wasn’t sure if he spoke about it again, Ned would believe him. And right now, it wasn’t just his dreams that were troubling him, it was also the fact that none of the Runners has returned to the Glade. He knew that he was still new to them, and none of them probably trust him and he doesn’t either, but if he was going to stay in this place, he needed to build friendships.

And so far, he was thankful to have Ned, Minho, and Ned by his side.   


“You had another dream, didn’t you?”

“Is it really that obvious?!” Peter asked, a bit louder than he intended to.   


“To the ones who care, maybe, yes.” Ned nodded.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound rude.” Peter mumbled.

“It’s okay.” Ned smiled. “Just, whenever you want to talk about it, I’m here.”

“I know.” Peter looked at him and smiled. “Thanks, Ned.”

“Hey, brave-heart!” Peter’s head snapped to where the voice came from, his eyes landing on a slightly short, dark-skinned guy with neck length black hair. “Goodluck with your training.” He yelled from the distance, before he walked away quickly.

Peter frowned and looked at Ned in confusion, “Was that—”

“Flash.” Ned raised his eyebrows, he too, confused at what just happened. “He’s literally like, Gally’s shadow.”

“Yeah, I remember Newt telling me about him. Why on Earth would he want to wish _me_ any thing that’s good?”

“It only means one thing.” Ned grinned.

“Oh god, no, if you’re about to say something about me winning everyone’s hearts I’m literally pouring that bowl of soup over your head.” Peter laughed.

Ned burst into laughter, confirming that Peter was right. “I’m sorry, but it’s so accurate.” his eyes closed, wrinkles forming by them, from how hard he was laughing.

“Ah, I better get back to Newt before he comes and drags my ass himself.” Peter said, rising to his feet, causing Ned to laugh again at his words.

“Good luck!” he heard Ned shout in the background as he jogged his way to where Newt was waiting for him.

Newt rose to his feet at the sight of Peter. “You’re back early.” he stated.

“Yeah, wasn’t really that hungry. Just wanted the rest.” Peter shook his head.

“Alright then, let’s get back to what we were doing.”

More time passed, and it was starting to get darker.

“Are you sure this is normal? They should have been back by now.” Peter glanced nervously at Newt as they stood in front of one of the Maze’s opening, waiting for their friends to get back.

“Stop whining, Peter. They will be back in no time. Newt rolled his eyes.

“We are in the ‘no time’ right now!” Peter snapped.

“If you shut up for one second, you could see that they’re already back.” Newt pointed ahead of him.

Peter saw two dark figures approaching them from inside, running as fast as they could. A rush of wind blew in their direction as they stood, waiting for the Runners to reach them.

“Run!” they both screamed, as they stepped out of the Maze, each one of them collapsing onto both Peter and Newt.

“Hey, hey, easy, what happened?!” Newt asked, as they helped the guys stand properly.

“Where’s Minho?!” Peter asked, exchanging a nervous look with Newt.

“Speak! What happened? What did you see out there?! Where’s Minho?” Newt asked, shaking the guy’s shoulders rather roughly, losing his temper.

The wind that came from the Maze grew stronger, capturing Peter’s attention. He looked in there, and found the third figure at the very end of the path he saw in front of him. He watched as the figure struggled to keep running, before they fell to the ground.

Minho.

“Newt.” Peter whispered, tugging on Newt’s hand.

“No, no, no.” Newt shook his head repeatedly.

The ground started to shake underneath them as the walls of the Maze vibrated, the opening getting narrower and narrower by the second. More Gladers were gathered at the scene now.

“We have to help him!” Peter yelled over the sound of the shaking stone walls.

“No.” Newt yelled back, tugging on Peter’s hand. His eyes were bloodshot, tears filling them. “You can’t go in there. No one can.” He gritted his teeth.

Peter didn’t listen. He couldn’t just stand and watch his friend being swallowed by darkness. He wouldn’t want to be in his place. In a split second, he easily yanked his hand away from Newt’s grip and launched himself forward into the Maze.

“Peter!” He heard Newt scream behind him, along with a series of No’s and other yells after him.

His body struggled to pass through the walls that pressed against him the longer he walked forward. He pushed himself out of the narrow path and into darkness. The voices of the Gladers completely died down and were replaced by utter silence.


	17. Chapter 17

It has been two days. Two of the worst days in his life. Yes, he has been through a lot. But this, this was something else. He has never felt this type of loneliness before; even after he lost his parents at the age of seventeen. He would have never imagined that he, out of all people, would feel this pain over someone. Not just anyone; it was his kid. Yes, he wasn’t one of his own, but he so easily managed to earn that place in Tony’s heart. He made him get too used to his presence that everywhere Tony goes just seems dull without him. That’s one of the things that made the past two days even harder for him.

He took him everywhere he went. His presence marked every aspect of his daily life that it just felt so wrong, not having him around. The hardest times for Tony were when he had to go to work. _Of course, he had to go to work;_ where he had to face the countless number of employees eyeing him and whispering to each other. Where he had to work in a place that has become a living hell for him, a place where he had to work at the mercy of a psychopath. Tony has always considered himself a successful man; the best of his time. At least that’s what people saw in him aside from an arrogant, self-centered, wealthy man. But now?

Not a moment has passed without him burying his insides in self-loathe. Somehow, this place managed to bring out the worst in him as easily as it brought out the best. He hated it. He hated himself for everything he has done for them. _For his boss_. He cursed the day he agreed to do this, he hated everything he has done. The work he spent nights doing somehow backfired in his own face, tearing his world apart. Now, one of the dearest people to him has to suffer at his hands. _Because of him._ This alone was enough to make him drown in guilt and self-loathe for an eternity. If something happened to Peter, he would never be able to forgive himself.

He hasn’t heard from Matt since the last time they met, and it was probably better this way; for both of them. Fisk surely wouldn’t let them wander around freely, specially, Matt. He probably had Tony watched round the clock, thinking he was stupid enough not to notice. But it was easy for him to notice that his building was being roamed by drones every few hours. After what Matt told him, he could expect anything from Fisk. Anything. His thoughts wouldn’t travel to Matt a lot, but when they did, they hit hard. The place Matt left him in was horrible. He couldn’t hate him even if he wanted to, even if the thought of him in his other clothes that night made his blood boil. As much as he was angry at him, he couldn’t help but feel the pain of his friend’s betrayal to him overweighing the anger. It wasn’t just what he did, it was how he found out. He hated how it made him feel.

No matter how hard he tried to hold his ground against Matt, he knew it wouldn’t last. Apart from being a hand of help to him, and a friend in need, he was a big part of Peter’s life, too. Even if he didn’t have much insight to how their relationship was, he knew that no matter what, Matt had his back; and he could never be more grateful for that.

Since the day Peter was taken, Tony hasn’t been able to sleep at night, much like him. That day, after Matt left, Tony worked on having a streaming of his own so he could keep an eye on everything that was happening with Peter. So, he knew. He knew he was struggling to sleep at night. He knew he felt lonely and out of place out there, and it hurt him. It hurt him more than ever, that he couldn’t know what he was thinking. He would stay up at night until he made sure that Peter fell asleep, and then got some sleep himself. It was pretty much the only thing that brought him the tiniest bit of comfort.

He wondered if the bastards that took him made him go through everything the candidates go through before they were sent out there. The last thing he remembers was Peter being taken away unconscious. He hated the fact that Peter might not be aware of what he is. They were all nothing compared to him. 

As much as Tony hated and feared for his existence out there, he knew that he could outsmart the smartest of them. But it was wrong, he shouldn’t be there. He shouldn’t be fighting for his life that was taken away from him in the worst way possible. He should be here with him. His mind couldn’t help but go back to that night. That one night, he called him ‘dad’. It tugged at his heart that he never got the chance to bring it up, to figure out if he actually meant it; if he actually thinks of Tony as a father just like he considers him the son he never had. What even hurt more, that he knew that Peter’s twenty-first birthday was coming up, and none of the plans he had for him were going to happen.

There were times when Tony watched Peter out there and thought of how brave and selfless he is, but he didn’t think that it would be something that walks him right to his death.

“No,” Tony whispered to himself, his eyes tearing up at the scene playing in front of him. “Why, Pete?” he held his hands together, gripping them tightly in agitation as the walls of the Maze closed, separating Peter from the others.

Tony didn’t know what to do; all he felt right now was pure fear. His worst fear has happened right before his eyes. And the worst of all? He couldn’t do anything to save him. He couldn’t do anything. Peter willingly ran into the Maze to help his friend, which left Tony in a horrible state, because the walls of the Maze will not open until the sun rises again. It was how it was designed.  _ It was how he designed it _ . No other attempts to open them would do any good neither to Peter nor to the other kids.

He slightly jumped at the sound of a knock on his door before Michelle’s head peeked in. She, on the other hand, was doing way better than Tony. Yes, her face looked paler than usual, and every time Tony looked in her eyes, he saw the sorrow she tried so hard to hide but it was too obvious to him. That was also one of the things that crushed his heart. Their days were just lifeless. Their lunch break was the worst. They would both sit across from each other, and barely pick at their food before they left. None of them dared to talk about it; looking at his empty spot on their usual table was enough. It was unbearable; having to sit where his laughs and silly jokes once echoed, having to eat the same food they used to eat together, remembering every sarcastic comment Peter would throw at a food item he didn’t like.

“I was just leaving; thought I’d let you know.” she quietly said. Her facial expression changed to a rather concerned one when she looked closely at Tony.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, stepping in and shutting the door behind her.

Tony didn’t answer; he didn’t know what to tell her.

“Tony, what’s wrong?” she asked again, starting to panic. “Is Peter okay?” her eyes shone with tears as she rushed to his side where he sat facing his screen.

“Where is he? Why can’t I see him?!” she slightly yelled, her eyes looking back and forth between him and the screen.

“He’s, he’s out there, in the Maze.” Tony whispered. “He went in there to help one of the kids.”

“No, this isn’t right.” she shook her head. “He wasn’t supposed to go out there now!” she shouter again, losing her temper.

Tony couldn’t tell her to calm down. He couldn’t dare do it, because he, too, felt just like her. Tony knew that it would be only a matter of time before Peter encountered the Maze, and he knew well that this time was approaching. But not now, not when he is unarmed. Not when the fucking Grievers were this close to him.

“Michelle,” Tony addressed, standing up and grabbing her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her.

“Let me go.” she said, terrifyingly calm. Tony tucked his hands away to himself again, letting them drop to his sides.

“Let me go after him.”

“What?!” Tony frowned, hoping he misheard her. “Okay, this is part where you’re overstepping the red line. That’s not happening.” he shook his head in refusal.

“I can’t just sit here and watch him go through that shit alone.” she argued.

“Michelle, you don’t want that.” Tony tried to convince her.

“Peter is my best-friend!” She snapped, “and I know more than anything, that if it was me who was out there, he wouldn’t have waited for two days to take this decision, even if it was against  _ your _ will.” she pointed at him.

“ _ You don’t understand _ .” Tony snapped back at her. “I can’t just let you go out there like that. Not with Fisk’s men on my tail.” he sighed, rubbing his forehead.

“Then do something about it!”

“Michelle, that’s—”

“You said _whatever it takes._ ” she held up one finger in a warning manner.

“And I mean it.” Tony replied, completely aware that his promise is still valid. But he can’t just let her do that; yes, he knew that she is strong and can handle herself well, but it was too dangerous.

“Then, if me going out there is what it takes, I’ll do it.” she held her chin high as she said that, sending a wave of encouragement through Tony.

“Leave it to me.” Tony said, his eyes fixed on the screen once again.

\--

Peter rushed to where Minho was lying on the ground, panic starting to arise in him. He went down on his knees and carefully flipped Minho’s body over so he was lying on his back. His eyes were closed, his black slick hair slightly tousled on top of his head. His face was covered in sweat and dirt, and as Peter’s eyes trailed his body, he found a round spot of blood on Minho’s left side.

“No,” Peter whispered, his hands immediately shaking Minho awake. “Minho, hey.” he kept shaking him until the guy’s forehead creased and he opened his eyes.

“Peter?!” he looked at him in shock. “This is wrong.” his eyes frantically looked around them, clearly searching for something. He tried to sit up, but he failed when the wound in his side reminded him of its existence.

“Minho, relax.” Peter assured, “I’m here. We’re gonna get out of here.” he said, his eyes glancing at the closed walls behind him then back at Minho, who by no means, relaxed.

“ _ Relax?! _ ” he hissed. “You idiot, you should have let me die out here!”

“What are you talking about?!” Peter grimaced, taken aback by Minho’s hurtful words.

“The moment you walked in here, you signed up for your death.” he whispered, a mixture of anger and fear flashing in his eyes.

“Minho, what happened?” Peter asked, in the faintest tone possible. “Who did this to you?”

“It is not who.” Minho slowly shook his head, his naturally narrow eyes suddenly as wide as an owl’s as they stared into Peter’s.

“What did you see?” Peter pushed.

“Monsters.” Minho, whom he has known to be the bravest of the Runners, let a sob escape his throat as he said it. Peter could tell that he was living a rather horrible memory as his eyes turned to look somewhere in the distance next to them.

For the first time, Peter looked up around him to see how the place looked like. It was eerily dark in the Maze, the only source of light being the faint white shade of the moon. The stone walls stood tall around them, cracks found here and there. There were shorter walls, almost the same height as Peter. Leaf ropes dangled from some walls, extending to the ground where they created a tangled mess. Peter jumped at the sound of an inhuman, ear-piercing scream in the distance, stirring fear inside him. Minho gripped Peter’s hands that rested on his shoulder, shaking them.

“It’s them.” He whispered; his eyes full of terror.

The sound occurred again, this time a little closer than before. Peter’s eyes roamed the halls around them, but he found nothing.

“What is wrong with you?!” Minho slightly yelled, swatting Peter’s hands away and trying to get up again. He managed to stand up through multiple yelps and winces of pain.

Peter worried at the fact that Minho’s voice was too loud, leading whatever was roaming the halls of the Maze directly to them. He was still on his knees where Minho was lying on the ground, so many thoughts spinning in his mind. He stood up and watched as Minho struggled to take a few steps away from him, resting his hand on the wall for support. His breaths were heavy, and Peter could see the blood starting to seep through Minho’s hand on his side.

“Minho—” Peter started, but he cut him off.

“This is your fault. You shouldn’t have been here.” he shook his head.

  
Another screeching sound roared in the distance, and this time, Peter turned to look where it came from. He wished he didn’t look. He found himself staring at a deadly creature which stared back at him through its menacing, glowing yellow eyes. It stood round the corner of a wall, miles away from where Peter was standing. It was as huge as the tallest wall in the Maze, its mechanical arachnid legs supporting its scorpion-like body. It looked horrifying, and for a second, Peter felt terrible for Minho. He had to face this creature alone, because his fellow Runners ran off and left him in the Maze, knowing exactly what might happen to him.

It roared again at the sight of Peter, and started to move towards him. Peter ran back in Minho’s direction, knowing too well that it would be a matter of seconds before the creature found them.

Minho looked at him in a puzzled and scared way, before Peter spoke up. “I’m so sorry about that.” he said, hitting Minho at the back of his head, hard enough to make him lose his consciousness. Peter caught his still figure as it collapsed into him, before he carefully set him on the ground, and rolled him over behind the tangled mess of the leaves he saw earlier. He quickly tore a strap from the back of his shirt and covered Minho’s wound with it, before he double-checked that his body was completely unseen.

The sound of the creature became dangerously close to where he was, causing him to run to the nearest wall. It wasn’t a tall one, but its bottom was broken, creating an almost human-size gap. Peter pushed himself in there and hid, hoping the wall wouldn’t collapse onto him because its bottom was broken. Silence filled the air for a few seconds, and Peter wondered where the monster had gone. He peeked his head out of his hiding spot and saw nothing. He waited a few more seconds, and just as he was about to come out, he heard the sound of metal hitting pavement, terrifyingly close to him. He slowly looked up, and found it hovering over the wall he was hiding under, completely unaware of neither Peter nor Minho’s existence. Peter could only see its body from where he was hiding, and he saw something that did not make any sense in his mind.

Something glowed in yellow on the creature’s stomach. Something written in bold, that has been haunting him since day one.

**Property of W.C.K.D – STARK INDUSTRIES**

Peter frowned; the term WCKD has appeared in his dreams more than once. He doesn’t know what it stands for or what it is, but Stark Industries? Who is this Stark? And what does he have to do with WCKD? He shook his head and focused back on the real danger. He shifted in his position, trying to see what the creature was doing. He was curled up on his side in a baby position, so he could fit in the hole, which made it harder for him to move without making any sound. Peter grabbed a stone that was lying in front of him, and he carefully tossed it away as far as he could. He watched as the monster’s head snapped in different directions, clearly looking for where the sound came from, and before he knew it, it was gone and out of sight.

He let out a sigh of relief, resting his head on the stone wall beneath it. Peter looked over at where he hid Minho, and saw no change, which was another sigh of relief. It was pretty dark, now, and Peter assumed that dawn was nearing, because as he came to learn, the darkest hour is right before dawn. He was feeling tired and longed for a bit of sleep before the sun rose again. He knew it was too dangerous to sleep now that the monster could come back any minute, but then he remembered that Minho was well hidden and so was he. Out of all the nights Peter struggled to sleep, tonight wasn’t one of them. He brought his knees up to his chest, trying to seek any warmth. His bare back wasn’t helping, and neither were the stony rocks that cut at his back every time he moved.

Peter fought his heavy eyelids for as long as he could, but he lost all too soon. His mind drifted off, sending him into yet another dream.

_ “Oh, come on, not even this one? I mean, she’s got some really nice,” he teased, pointing at his chest area. _

_ “God, no, what are you doing!” Peter laughed, scrunching up his nose at Tony’s attempt to make him admit that he likes the girls shown in the pictures displayed before them. _

_ “Wow, you’re a tough one to impress.” Tony raised his eyebrows at him.  _

_ Peter rolled his eyes, “I’m not tough to impress, it’s just—” _

_ “Not about looks and blah blah blah.” Tony snickered. _

_ “Excuse me?!” Peter laughed. _

_ “I’m kidding.” his smile turned to something else, his eyes holding some kind of true emotion behind them. “I’m proud of you.” he squeezed Peter’s shoulders. _

  
_ Peter chuckled, thinking that he was still being sarcastic, despite the shift in mood he noticed. _

  
_ “I mean it. I’m proud of you, Pete, on so many levels.” his lips formed a thin smile as if he was trying to hold back something he wanted to say. _

Peter jumped awake, his eyes widening as he struggled to free himself from the spot he has been in for hours. His back stung at the movement, as well as the rest of his body that ached from the uncomfortable sleep he had. His chest was tight, making him feel like he needed to take a deep breath to free it. This time, his dream left him feeling something strange. He could have sworn he felt everything that happened in the short dream he had. The pride he felt back then, the feeling of his hands squeezing his shoulders.

Frustration took over him that he couldn’t know who or where Tony was? Why was he proud of him in his dream? Why did it feel so good sitting with him?

Peter was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard shuffling next to him. His eyes immediately diverted to where Minho was, and his thoughts were confirmed when he saw the pile of leaves moving. Peter approached him, and untangled the mess around him before he carefully pulled him out.

“Hey.” Peter forced a smile, not knowing what would be Minho’s reaction.

“What happened?” he frowned.

“I, uh, kind of knocked you out?” Peter suppressed a smile.

“You.” Minho narrowed his eyes. “I hope you have a good reason for that.”

“Didn’t know the damage was this good.” Peter chuckled, mumbling to himself.

“Huh?”

“We,” Peter cleared his throat. “Were attacked by a monster last night.”

“And?”

“I had to hide you, and I hid as well, until it eventually went away.” Peter shrugged.

“On its own?” Minho asked, looking like he wasn’t buying any of what Peter was saying.

“Yeah, just like that.”

“You’re a terrible liar.” Minho shook his head.

Their conversation was interrupted when Peter heard the loud sound of stone grinding together, and the ground vibrated beneath them. They exchanged a look, both of their eyes wide in joy and relief as they concluded what that meant.

“Come on.” Peter urged, offering Minho his hand and helping him up to his feet. Peter draped his arm over his shoulder and walked them to where the light of the glade shone through the slowly opening walls.

“Thank you, Peter.” Minho shot him a smile through the pained look on his face.

“Shut up, you still owe me an apology.” Peter playfully grunted as they limped their way out of the Maze.

“Oh, please.” Minho chuckled, rolling his eyes.

The other Gladers were starting to gather up in front of the walls, cheering and urging both of them to walk faster. Peter spotted Ned in the distance with an expression of relief on his face before it changed to panic again when he saw Minho. He saw almost everyone, even Gally stood with his usual scowl, but Newt was nowhere to be found.

As soon as their feet landed on the green grass of the Glade, Ned and other Gladers rushed to them, immediately taking Minho somewhere, where he would be taken care of. Peter let himself indulge in the moment of his triumph as the huddle of boys around him thanked him, patted his hair, shook his hand, and voiced “good to see you, again” to him. He let himself feel proud that he survived a whole night in the Maze on his own.

Before everything took a wrong turn. A very wrong turn.


	18. Chapter 18

“You did what?!” the earpiece almost flew out of Tony’s ear at how loud Matt yelled. 

Tony sighed and rested his head against the back of his chair. “I’ll be right here when you’re done freaking out.” 

“I’m sorry, were you expecting a pat on the back and a ‘bravo’?” he snapped. 

“You know, for someone who has managed to repeatedly piss me off, you  _ should  _ thank god I even managed to find you.” Tony bit back.

He has been searching for Matt ever since he talked with MJ. He knew they had to communicate without WCKD on their tails. Specially that Fisk had him watched almost round the clock, but Tony made sure he delivered the information he  _ wanted _ them to know and not the other way around. He has managed to set up his own workshop in one of the corners of his penthouse. It wasn’t much, compared to his workplace at the WCKD headquarters but it was enough to start up another AI system that worked under the radar. Right now, he was talking to Matt over a wireless ear comm that he specially made for detecting locations. 

Matt was doing a great job with hiding, and he proved that to Tony when he spent two days continuously trying to find him until he finally got a hold of him at some kind of a cave that led to a hiding underground spot. He wasn’t fully over what Matt did yet, but he owed him a great deal for everything he did with Peter. Tony found no point in holding a grudge against Matt; not at this time. What happened the past few days was enough to drive him out of his mind, let alone dealing with a person who lied to his face about who he is. He needed this to work, and in order for it to do so, he needed all the help he could get.

A moment of silence passed, Matt probably realizing that Tony had a point before he spoke again.

“Tony, this is--” 

“Dangerous, risky, irrational,” he waved his hands in the air as he listed the things Matt would say.

Tony knew that what he did was risky; probably risking everything they have with it, including their lives, but he had a good feeling that it might work if everything goes the way he wants.

“I was going to say smart,” he stated. “But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s dangerous and I would be lying if I said that I’m not worried.”

“Yeah, I’m worried too, buddy, but worry won’t do us any good now, will it?” Tony said, scanning the oldest outlines he made for the Maze. 

“Are you sure that this whole violating the rules thing is going to work on  _ Fisk _ ?” he asked, concern laced with his voice.

“You want the truth or the superhero version of the answer?” Tony joked. 

“I hate you.” 

“Trust me, I hate me, too.” he said, his own words tugging at his heart. “But that’s our only shot.” he sighed.

“Looks like it.” Matt muttered. “What else are you up to?” 

“Oh, we’ve got a lot of catching up to do.” Tony leaned forward on his desk, preparing himself to lay out everything he has in mind.

\--

The crowd was starting to lessen now that they met Minho and Peter, and instead scattered themselves in groups around Peter, chatting and eyeing him every now and then. Peter’s eyes searched the field for Newt again, but he didn’t find him. He knew that Ned was probably treating Minho, as he was the one who helped him away from the crowd. Just as a Glader was bidding Peter goodbye, Gally turned up, storming his way towards Peter.

“What’s your deal?! Huh?” he snapped, his face red from how angry he was.

“ _ My _ deal?” Peter scoffed. 

“You just show up one day and decide that you want to become a Runner and cheers! Peter is our hero!” he mocked. “Is that what you want?” 

“I never asked to be anyone’s hero.” Peter answered, his own anger starting to build up. 

“Are you sure? Because your girlfriend seems to think otherwise.” Gally crossed his arms, furrowing his eyebrows deeply. 

“What?!” he hissed. Peter had no idea what Gally was talking about and the fact that he was doing this to embarrass him in front of the whole Glade again was enraging. 

“Quit the fucking act, Peter.” he spat, stepping closer. “You just came out of that place after  _ one  _ night, perfectly unharmed. Care to explain?” 

Peter glanced around him at the people who were now staring at them in confusion, some muttering to themselves, and some walking up close to listen clearly.

“I have nothing to prove to you.” he said in a low tone, his fists clenching by his sides, trying to contain his anger. “You just can’t accept the fact that everyone around you is doing something and all you keep doing is failing, Gally!” Peter yelled, unable to control his anger anymore. He was done letting him hate on him for no apparent reason, just to make him look bad in front of the others.

“You little--” Gally’s arm came swinging towards Peter but his hand immediately went up, blocking him, surprise evident on both of their features. 

_ “You twist it this way, so they’re too vulnerable to move.” he said as he fastened his hand around Peter’s wrist behind his back. “Direct them towards the nearest surface you find and keep them pushed up against it. If they tried to move, it would only hurt more.”  _

_ Peter listened intently and swiftly moved with him, following his directions. In the flash of a second, his knees crashed against the ground, sending jolts of pain up his legs. _

_ “What was that for!” He yelled.  _

_ “That,” Matt snickered and loosened his grip around Peter, letting him go. “Was a bonus trick. If your opponent is trying to outsmart you, or he’s just being annoying, you can always do that.”  _

_ “Yeah, sure.” Peter half winced half laughed as he stretched his arm that was twisted a few seconds ago.  _

_ “Your turn now.” Matt announced.  _

_ “I’m sorry, what?” Peter gaped.  _

_ “Go ahead, give it a try.” he opened his arms in a welcoming manner. “You’re not going to learn anything if you don’t try.” he shrugged.  _

_ “You want me to do that?!” he yelped, stepping closer to Matt.  _

_ “Stop acting like a--” he was cut off when Peter struck him, pulling off Matt’s own move as he asked. He easily kicked at the back of his knees, causing him to lose balance and collide with the hard floor.  _

_ “You never finished?” Peter teased over Matt’s shoulder.  _

_ “Nice one, Parker.” he chuckled, referring to the fact that he was aware that Peter was trying to catch him off guard.  _

“That’s enough!” Newt roared from a distance, pulling Peter out of his trance. 

He blinked multiple times as his eyes landed on Gally who was now pushed up against the stone wall they were standing by, on his knees with his arm held by Peter’s hand behind his back. His eyes were wide in horror as he let go of the guy he held captive, not knowing when or how they ended up like that. He was pretty sure his mind was not functioning properly right now, because he stood unmoving as Gally stood up gripping his arm and screaming at Peter “What the fuck is wrong with you?!” He didn’t even move when the Gladers looked at him in shock and started to quietly clear out. He just stumbled back a couple of steps, trying to process what just happened. 

Did he daydream? Was it a flashback? Who was that? Was it real? Didn’t Gally just try to attack him? Endless questions crowded his mind and the more he thought, the more his fear and confusion grew. Newt’s presence next to Peter startled him, but he kept his gaze down, fixed on his knotted sweaty hands. 

“You.” Newt nodded towards Gally, “Get out of here, and if I see you picking one more fight, I won’t stop him next time.” he calmly threatened, briefly glancing at Peter as he spoke.

Gally stomped his way out of the crowd after his eyes lingered on both of them for a few seconds, as if he was trying to stop himself from talking back at Newt. 

“Go back to whatever you were doing. Show is over!” Newt shouted, causing the remaining spectators to jump at the sudden outburst before they scurried away. Peter has never seen him this angry, and so much was going in his head right now that he failed to guess what could be upsetting him. And why wasn’t he there when he arrived with Minho?

“And you,” his eyes went to Peter. “Come with me.” he turned around and started walking away with Peter following behind. 

He walked quietly, not daring to look around, avoiding any bizarre looks he could get for what he had just done. He hasn’t been paying too much attention to his steps when he accidentally bumped into Newt when he stopped and turned to face him. They stood a long way from the rest of the guys, leaving the air tense and quiet around them. 

“What you did was stupid, rash, and the only thing that is stopping me from killing you on the spot is that you saved one of ours.” Newt started, a vein popping in his long neck as he tried not to raise his voice.

Peter stayed silent, not knowing what to say. “Look, I don’t know what happened out there and I don’t want to know. But you saved Minho’s life, and I thank you for that.” he nodded. 

“I didn’t do anything.” Peter mumbled.

“See,  _ that’s _ exactly what everyone keeps talking about!” he snapped. 

“You still don’t trust me.” Peter frowned. 

“I  _ want  _ to.” Newt answered. “You’re a good lad, Peter. I know you are, and I know I can trust you with my life,” he paused, anxiously running his hand through his blond hair. 

“Then what is it?” Peter asked, eager to know what caused the sudden change in his friend’s behavior.

“I’m giving you a chance to tell me anything you would want to tell me, because once we reach that place over there,” he pointed at where the Pit was, before he continued. “I can’t help you.” 

“What are you talking about?” Peter grimaced, not understanding anything. 

“I can’t keep defending you wherever I go without knowing who you actually are, Peter!” Newt shouted. “It has become an impossible job to shut everyone up for talking shit that Gally planted in their minds, and your doings aren’t helping!” 

“My doings?!” Peter yelled back. “Can you hear yourself? Does it make sense to you?” he panted. 

“I can’t be the only person who is trying to get out of here. I can’t be the only one who’s asking too many questions; deep down,  _ you  _ know this isn’t right.” he gestured around them. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t have been having this conversation now.” 

Newt stared at him for a few seconds, taking in Peter’s words. “I just have one question for you.” 

Peter impatiently ran his hand across his face, blowing out a deep breath. 

“Do you really not remember anything about yourself? Like all of us?” he asked, his voice free of the anger it held moments ago. 

Peter hesitated before he answered, his mind going back to each and every dream he had since his first night at the Glade. He still wasn’t ready to share that part of him with anyone. Not fully anyway. “No, I don’t. I can’t remember anything.” 

Peter’s eyes searched Newt’s for any unexpected emotions, but he found none. None but a slight relief before it quickly faded as he started speaking again. “You better be true then.” That was the last thing he said before he walked away. 

Peter caught up with Newt and asked one more time, “are you going to tell me what happened when I was away?” 

“You’ll see for yourself.” Newt simply said as they stepped past the two boys who were standing over one of the holes dug in the ground, revealing what was waiting for them. 

“Peter!” A high pitched voice called his name from the Pit, catching his attention. 

It was a girl. Her hair was let down in messy curls, covering the sides of her face. She was wearing clothes which were similar to the ones Peter wore when he first arrived. She seemed relieved to see him, a grin plastered on her features. He didn’t understand why she was this happy to see him, or why she remembers him in the first place. Aren’t they all the same? If they were all like each other, unable to remember anything about themselves, then how come she recognized him? And why was Peter overwhelmed by a feeling that he has seen her before when he saw her?

Newt stood with a solid expression next to Peter, watching closely. She attempted to jump out of the place she was held in and the Gladers standing with them were about to stop her but Newt held them off, nodding for them to go away. She successfully stood on her feet in front of them and without a warning, her arms flew around Peter’s figure, engulfing him in a hug. Peter stumbled back from the sudden gesture, his hands going up between them to break the embrace but the girl held tighter. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” she whispered, and for a second, Peter thought she was crying. 

But he was wrong, because when he gently tried to push her away again, finally getting her to let go, he saw tears merely starting to form in her eyes. Peter glimpsed over her shoulder at Newt whose forehead was deeply creased where he stood. His eyes went back to the person before him before he spoke up.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?” his eyes examined her features again, trying his best to remember if he actually knows her. But nothing happened; just a blank white page at the top of his mind.

He watched as the girl’s shoulders slumped in defeat, hurt flashing behind her eyes. 

“See?” Newt broke the silence, directing his words at the dark haired girl. “I told you he doesn’t remember anything. Now, get back in there.” he pointed at the hole again. 

She just glared at him and refused to move. “Did you come up here in the--” 

“The box, yes.” she cut him off, repeatedly nodding. 

“But why?” Peter whispered to himself. Why would a girl show up here? How did they all get here? This was no place for women; the state of the guys already living here was miserable, let alone  _ one  _ girl among fifty other men. 

“Hey, hey.” he called for Newt, stopping him from getting her back into the cell. “I don’t think that this is a good idea.” he whispered, taking him to the side. 

“But leaving her with an army of idiots is a brilliant idea?” Newt replied, raising his eyebrows at him. 

Peter didn’t say anything for a moment, thinking Newt’s words through. Out of all the Gladers, she recognized  _ him.  _ For some reason, he didn’t like the idea of her being here in this place, and he certainly didn’t like the trouble she brought with her. Newt was already having a hard time trusting Peter, and he didn’t know what the others thought about him. It just didn’t feel right, leaving her alone on her first night here. He has experienced this before, and he wouldn’t wish the same for anyone else. 

“I just-- at least keep her in a separate room or something.” Peter looked at her as she awkwardly stood there, clutching something he couldn’t see close to her chest.

Newt sighed. “You better sort your shit out before I lose mine.” 

“I swear, I don’t--” 

“I know.” Newt placed a hand on his shoulder. “But all of this has to mean something, Peter. You weren’t here to see how desperate she was to see you.” 

Peter huffed, not knowing what to do anymore. “I don’t, I can’t remember anything.” he repeated himself. “But I  _ will  _ figure this out, I promise.” 

“I don’t know from where you two were thrown out, but I know for one thing that this place won’t be the same after today.” Newt joked half-heartedly.

“Is that a good or a bad thing?” Peter nervously asked.

“Only time will tell.” he patted his shoulder and went over to the new Glader. 

Peter was secretly happy that he was no longer the newest one, here, and that finally everyone could drop his name for a while. 

“Do you happen to have a name that you go by? Or is it his name only that you remember?” Newt sarcastically asked. 

The girl shot him another glare, “Woah, you can drop the death stares, we’re on the same side now.” he smirked, glancing at Peter who wanted to slap Newt for the terrible joke he made at a more terrible time.

Her eyes flickered between them in hesitation before she opened her mouth. “It’s MJ. You can call me MJ.” she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear with her free hand.

“Alright, MJ, I will take you to a place where you could sleep tonight.” Newt announced, urging her to walk forward. 

She cautiously followed him, her eyes travelling everywhere around her as if she was studying her surroundings. Peter trailed behind, keeping his distance.  _ MJ _ . The name had a familiar ring to it, but he couldn’t reach it. He could no longer differentiate between his dreams and his reality; one that he doubted was full. A part of him was missing, an older self, and he had a feeling that MJ was a living proof that this part was real. The anchor that would put a stop to the never-ending questions in his mind. 

They stopped at one of the small huts with a fire that danced in the middle of it, making it more suitable for someone to stay in. Peter could see a bed at the far left corner with a jar of water next to it. Newt stepped back to give her some space as she peeked inside. He watched as Newt talked with two guys, probably ordering them to keep an eye on MJ. As if she could hear his thoughts, she turned to face him. He stopped in his tracks right in front of her, waiting for whatever she was going to say. Instead, she handed him something she has been carrying too close to her the whole time. She stuffed it in his hands as if she was trying to hide something, looking sideways to make sure that no one was watching them. 

“He wanted you to have this.” she whispered, something unreadable in her eyes. 

Peter drew his eyebrows together and examined the small black box in his hands. He was about to ask her what it was, but Newt beat him to it and was already on his way back to him. “Keep it somewhere safe.” she forced his hands away from her and scurried back into the hut, disappearing out of his sight.

“You alright?” Newt tilted his head to the side, curiously looking at him. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.” 

Peter hid his right hand behind his back, shoving the small box in his back pocket and chuckled, “Trust me, a ghost would be better looking than what I encountered in the Maze.” 

Newt joined him, “We will get to that later, now go let Ned have a look at you and get some rest.”

“I’m alright.” Peter waved him off. 

“You look like shit. Go.” Newt gave him a light push towards their simple med-bay which was a hut that was filled with beds and different kinds of herbs for medical needs.

Peter rolled his eyes and listened, making his way to where he would get some rest. He was feeling tired and his whole body ached, but it wasn’t as bad as it was when he was in the Maze. He could almost feel no pain at all in his back. He entered the hut, goosebumps immediately covering his skin at the warmth of the place. The smell of greenery and weird substances invaded his sense of smell, forcing a funny feeling down his stomach. He found Ned by Minho’s side, who looked fast asleep, so Peter quietly approached him and plopped himself down on the bed opposite to Minho’s. 

Ned noticed Peter’s presence and turned around, satisfaction washing over his features. “Peter.” he grinned, his eyes almost closing from how wide he was smiling. “Don’t you ever do that again.” 

“Hey, I’m here.” Peter grinned back. They were talking in a low tone so they would not wake up any of the others who were sleeping. 

“Are you okay?” Ned rushed to his side. 

“I’m fine.” Peter assured. “A few scratches here and there is all.” he said, pointing at his slightly bare back. 

“Let me see.” Ned attempted to force Peter out of his already ragged shirt, but Peter refused.

“I only came here because Newt wouldn’t stop nagging.” he whined. 

“At least let me have a look.” Ned said. “I can see the blood through the fabric, Peter.” his tone was sterner this time, leaving him with no choice but to take off the useless piece of clothing. 

Ned sat behind him as Peter rested his arms on either side of him and hung his head low, waiting for Ned to finish what he was supposed to do. He shivered as he felt a cold cloth swipe across his back, scrubbing it clean. He soon got used to its temperature and found himself relaxing to the feeling. He craned his neck in all directions, releasing the tightness and stress he felt there. A few seconds later, Ned stopped, grabbing Peter’s attention. 

“There’s nothing on your back.” Ned said. 

“I told you, I’ m--”

“I mean there’s  _ nothing _ .” he emphasized. “I only cleared the dry blood and dirt off your back. There is no sign for any injuries.” 

“That’s… weird.” Peter’s eyebrows furrowed as he tilted his head to the side, resting it on his right shoulder. He could have sworn he felt the cuts in his back sting every time he moved, and now that there’s nothing.. It made no sense.

“Yeah.” Ned replied, his voice laced with confusion. “There’s something on your neck though.” he noticed. 

“Where?” Peter’s hand rubbed his neck, looking for any type of wound, but his fingers were met with nothing unusual. 

“Here.” Ned brushed the hair at the nape of his neck to the side, and led Peter’s hand to it, but he still didn’t feel anything. 

“Oh my god.” Ned whispered, sounding closer than before. “Peter, it’s not an injury.” 

“Then what is it? What did you find?” Peter anxiously asked. 

“Something is written in black ink.” he clarified, his voice slightly shaking.

To say that he was panicking more by the second, would be an understatement. 

“What does it say?” he asked, his hand frantically brushing over his neck, trying to feel whatever Ned found. “ _ Ned _ .” Peter snapped, totally in no mood for the bewildered state his friend was in. 

“Subject 24: Leader.” 


	19. Chapter 19

“What— what does that mean?” Peter breathed, feeling his body heat up despite the chilly weather. 

He stood up and walked over to the broken mirror that was placed at the furthest wall in the room. He couldn’t see it, it was somewhere at the back of his neck almost fully hidden by his hair. He frantically ran his hands through his hair, tugging at the roots in frustration. As if matters couldn’t get any worse, a voice croaked from one of the beds, directing their attention towards the person. 

“What are you two fussing about?” Minho frowned, not at all hiding how annoyed he was for being disturbed.

“Nothing.” Peter stammered, turning around to face Minho who was trying to sit up.

“We found—” Ned blurted but Peter was quick to glare at him, stopping him from saying more.

Guilt flashed in his eyes before he opened his mouth again to speak, completely ignoring Peter’s silent warning. 

“We found something written on Peter’s neck. Some sort of a code.” he frowned.

“What?!” Minho laughed. “Have you been drinking our healing potions, Ned?” 

“He’s not lying.” Peter said, his tone steady and calm, unlike his mind that was far from sane now.

“Well come over here, don’t just stand there.” Minho sat upright on the edge of the bed, wincing in the process. 

Peter could see the round red stain on the white clean gauze that hugged his masculine torso, but he didn’t seem to be in much pain as before. He went to where Minho was sitting and crouched down, tilting his neck to the side so he could see what Ned saw. 

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Minho scrunched up his face in confusion. 

“I wish I knew.” Peter sighed and turned to rest his back against the bed as he sat on the floor. 

“It doesn’t go away.” Minho noted, referring to when he attempted to rub the black substance away. 

“Yeah, I can see that.” Peter snapped.

“Jeez, what happened to you?” Minho chuckled, unaware of everything that happened while he was unconscious. 

_ Nothing. I just pulled off a fighting reflex I had no idea I could do, had a fight with the only person who believed in me on my first day, a girl came out of nowhere to tell me that she’s glad to see me and gives me something that another person who I should know wanted me to have, I found no signs of injuries on my back after feeling constant pain in it the whole day, I keep having dreams that feel so real and I can do things while I’m not aware of myself, and apparently, I’m subject 24, a leader of something that I don’t know about. Yet.  _

All those thoughts burned through his mind, begging to be yelled out, but he didn’t. “I just had a long day.” he whispered. 

“The mighty Minho awake and talking!” Newt boomed into the space. “Glad to know that your brains weren’t eaten out there.” he giggled, taking a seat next to Ned on the bed above Peter. 

Newt’s laughter died down when he found that none of them shared the same demeanor. 

“Why the sour faces? What’s wrong?” he peeked down at Peter in curiosity before his eyes examined the others.

Peter spared Newt the same conversation he just had with Ned and Minho before and said it out loud. “Ned was examining the state of my back, which terrifyingly seemed completely fine, when he found something etched onto my skin. It said Subject 24: Leader.” 

“How do you manage to get yourself into all this weird shit in one day?” Newt breathed, almost laughing at how messed up Peter’s situation was. 

“Wait, what do you mean  _ all  _ this in one day? What did I miss?” Minho looked at Newt with a puzzled expression.

“We have a new Glader.” Newt announced. 

“Within  _ days _ ?” Minho gaped. “That’s—”

“Wait for this one, it’s a girl.” 

“A what now?” Minho was already looking at them as if they’ve grown a second head and he hasn’t heard the full story yet. 

“She recognized Peter though. Kept saying that she had to see him.” Newt explained as Peter replayed the whole scenario in his head. 

“Do you know her?” Minho’s eyes flickered to Peter.

Peter shook his head, his eyes fixed on his fumbling fingers. “No. Not yet.” 

“Yet? Are you telling me that there’s a girl among us out there who possibly knows you and you have no idea who she is?” Minho asked in disbelief.

Peter was surprised by his reaction that lacked anger, and then he remembered that Minho, too, was one of the most people who wanted to leave this place. His whole existence here depended on it. He knew that Newt’s previous outburst was out of care and nothing more, and he was proven right when Newt listened to him and didn’t leave MJ in the Pit. 

“It’s not like I can do anything about it, Minho.” Peter aggravatingly said, tired of the fact that his life in the Glade has become a series of ‘I don’t know’ and ‘I can’t remember’. And every time he tried to tell any of them about the flashbacks he had, his fear of being misunderstood stopped him. He hated how helpless he felt when all he wanted to do was to be helpful. 

“You could try harder.” As if he had just pressed a button that Peter didn’t want him to push, his anger overtook him. 

“What do you think I have been doing since the moment I was sent up here? What do you think is going through my mind the whole time?! Do you really think that I have some kind of a death wish? No. I only want to know why we are here, and none of you seem to think the same!” he found himself shouting again, repeating the words he said to Newt earlier. 

“Have you even reached something with the patterns you collected, Newt?” he faced him, referring to the map they showed him before.

“Careful, Peter.” he warned. 

Minho was sitting dumbfounded, at a loss of words. “Dude, I only meant that you could try and talk to her. If she really knows you then that might get us somewhere.” 

“Minho’s right.” 

“Yeah.” Ned agreed with Newt. 

Peter covered his face with his hands in exhaustion, letting his eyes remain closed for a few seconds. All of this was too overwhelming for him. None of what was happening felt normal. The crazy reflexes, his swift moves and the ability to do acrobatics as if it was the only thing he was born to do, the bizarre thing that happened when Ned tried to look for the cuts on his back; he was starting to feel that he was no close match for ordinary. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know the truth about his presence here. He feared that it would be something that would only make things worse for him. But the desperation to know everything overpowered the fear he felt as he uncovered his face and tried to stand up but Newt stopped him.

“Woah where do you think you’re going?” 

“I’m doing what you all agreed on?” Peter raised an eyebrow.

“God, not now.” Newt blew out a breath. “If you talk to her  _ like that,  _ you’ll most probably scare her off.” he chuckled, hinting at Peter’s temper.

Peter rolled his eyes and sat next to him, taking Ned’s place. He was doing something in the background, out of their hearing range. 

“That’s right, let the flames swoosh away.” Newt teased, earning a chuckle from Minho.

“Fuck off.” Peter lightly pushed his shoulder. 

“You should have seen what he did to Gally today.” Newt remarked. “If I hadn’t walked in on them, he would have snapped him like a twig.” Peter watched as he described the scene.

“What did he do again?” Minho sighed. “No way!” he laughed, realizing something. “He was there when the new one arrived.” 

“For Peter’s shitty luck, yes.” Newt replied, laughing lightly. 

They joked around for a while, their laughter echoing through the small space before Newt asked a question. 

“What do you think it means?” he glanced at Peter. 

Peter thought for a second, “I honestly have no clue.” 

“It must mean something. It wouldn’t have said ‘Leader’ for no reason.” Newt said, his words lingering in the air for a while. “I don’t know about you but I’m the one in charge here.” he cockily raised his eyebrows at Peter. 

“We’ll see about that.” Peter smirked. 

“Don’t let your little tattoo flatter you too much, Peter.” 

“Oh, you don’t want to cross Newt in his Chief Area.” Minho shook his head. 

“Is that so?” Peter replied. 

“Is it too painful for your ego, fireball?” Newt leaned back and rested his hands behind his head, pretending to look like a boss. 

“Says the one who’s trying to prove a point that’s built on a possibly meaningless tattoo.” he shrugged. 

“Good one!” Minho laughed. “You’re starting to learn the Glade talk.” 

“It’s not too hard.” Peter chuckled.

Ned came back with a few tools in his hands and Minho grumpily whined. “Is it time already?” 

“Yeah, and stop whining, maybe be careful next time and don’t be stupid enough to get hurt again.” Ned lectured him, setting down the things in his hands next to Minho. Peter assumed that it was time for Ned to clean his wound again and Minho wasn’t too happy about it. 

Newt and Peter took it as a chance to leave and stood up, but he seemed to remember something he wanted to say before they left.

“How on earth did you get that nasty wound anyway?” Newt grimaced as he watched Ned remove the gauze, revealing the still fresh cut. 

“That’s a long story.” Minho sighed. “But it wasn’t the monsters.” he sucked in a breath as Ned started to dab his side with some sort of a cloth.

“What do you mean?” Newt crossed his arms. 

“I accidentally stabbed myself.” Minho uttered, and the three of them burst out laughing because this was the stupidest thing they could have ever heard, but Minho’s face stayed straight.

“So you  _ were _ stupid enough to hurt yourself.” Ned stated, unable to hide his smile.

“If I wasn’t injured, I swear I would have kicked your asses one by one.” he gritted his teeth, glaring at them. 

“Of course.” Newt replied, still slightly laughing. 

“I tried to fight the one that attacked us, but I ended up hurting myself instead. When Peter found me, we were already running from one, but it seemed like it was afraid of the light. It didn’t chase us all the way to where the walls of the Maze were opened.”

“Wait, there is more than one?” Newt asked; concern and panic evident in his voice.

“Yeah.” Peter answered. “I heard them.” 

“If Minho tried to fight them and failed, how did  _ you  _ get out?” Newt turned to him.

“It was obvious. We had no chance against that thing. I’m still wondering how it didn’t strike Minho in the first place.” Peter pursed his lips in thought. “I knocked him out and found us a place to hide. It was the only way.” 

“That makes sense.” Newt quietly said. 

“Do I want to know what they look like?” he joked nervously. 

Minho and Peter shared a look, before Peter gestured for Newt to walk out with him. They didn’t want to scare Ned nor any of the other patients who were lying around. If they ever get the chance to go through the Maze, it would be best for them not to know anything about it now. Peter put on a shirt on his way out, before they stepped out onto the field. 

“I’m only telling you so you can sort out your weapons and prepare yourself.” Peter started. “What I saw out there,” he paused, not knowing how to properly describe it. 

“I’m sure it was something I have never seen before. It had the body and the tail of a scorpion, supported by huge arachnid metal-like legs. Its face was monstrous; yellow glowing eyes and sharp teeth.” 

“Jesus.” Newt breathed. “How huge?” 

“It hovered over a wall almost as tall as me, so yeah, we’re talking  _ huge  _ huge.” Peter remembered.

“Did you notice anything else about it?” he asked. 

Peter remembered the words he saw in bright yellow light that read ‘Property of WCKD: STARK INDUSTRIES’. He pondered over whether he should say it or not, but the subject changed all too quickly before he could answer. Much to his relief.

“It’s okay, don’t push yourself.” Newt said. 

“I’m sorry about earlier.” 

“I should be the one apologizing. Not you.” Newt argued. “I shouldn’t have doubted you like that.” 

“No, it’s okay.” Peter nodded. “It must be hard, having to put up with everything around you while keeping things under control.” 

“How do  _ you  _ know that?” Newt chuckled, shaking his head in surprise. 

“Did you forget that I’m a leader, too?” Peter rallied. 

“You wish.” 

They stayed quiet for a short while before Peter broke the silence. “I should go.” He wasn’t sure where he would go, but he could use some time alone to himself.

“Wait,” Newt said, stopping Peter in his tracks. “I thought you should know this.”

“What?” 

“I want you to know that whatever happens, I got your back. I don’t care about what you’re going to find out when you talk to MJ. I know it sounds crazy amidst everything that is happening right now, but I also know that my instincts never lie.” 

“And what are your instincts telling you right now?” Peter inquired.

“That you’re going to change everything around here. In a good way.” he smiled. “And I’ll be with you every step of the way.” 

“I-- I don’t know what to say.” Peter shrugged, feeling speechless.

“Don’t say anything.” Newt shook his head. “Just mark my words.” 

“I will.” Peter smiled and made his way to where he slept at night, looking forward to getting some rest.

On his way, his mind went back to Minho’s words; that if he wanted answers, he should try talking to her. Without a second thought, he switched paths and before he knew it, he was standing in the middle of the room, looking down at her as she sat curled up with her knees up to her chest. Her eyes lit up when she saw him, and Peter tried to ignore the warm feeling that settled inside him at the sight of her. 

“I uhm,” he stuttered, looking around him nervously. 

“You have questions.” she stated, eyeing him knowingly. 

“Yeah, a lot of them.” he uneasily laughed, trying to break the awkward atmosphere which was getting on his nerves because he didn’t know why it existed. 

“I know, and I can give you all the answers you need.” she assured, confusing him.

“How do you happen to know me?” he approached her. “I— I couldn’t remember anything when I came here.” he shook his head. “And I can’t remember you.” he whispered.

“It’s complicated.” she replied, sadness showing in her eyes. 

“But you can remember everything.” he concluded. 

“Are we— were we put here on purpose? Did someone send us here?” His mind was starting to race with thoughts.

“Yes, but, Peter—”

“Is it WCKD?” he asked, the name popping in his head out of the blue. 

He watched as her face fell, something Peter could have mistook for fear filling her wide eyes as she quickly stood up. “How do you know that name?” she asked, her tone demanding. 

Peter cautiously stepped back, alarmed at the sudden change in her state. 

“Peter,  _ what do you remember _ ?” she pushed, adding up to the discomfort he was already feeling. 

“Nothing!” he snapped. “All I keep having is strange dreams about people I don’t know.” His eyes subconsciously welled up with tears. “And it hurts, because every time I wake up, it feels like I have been robbed of something I once had.” 

“I’m so sorry.” she whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek, but Peter didn’t know why she was apologizing. 

“Do you know what’s this?” he changed the topic, sniffing and turning around to show her his neck.  _ What is he doing crying to her about what he feels when he doesn’t even know her _ . 

He felt her hesitating for a second before her fingers shakily brushed the hair that covered his skin, to read what was there. 

“Yes, I know.” she calmly answered.

“What does it mean?” he asked.

“I— I can’t tell you now.” she regretfully said, angering Peter.

“You said you have all the answers I need.” He pointed at her. “So you’re going to tell me right now.” 

“Peter, I don’t think that this is a—”

“Good idea?” Peter scoffed, expecting the answer all too soon. “Trust me, none of this is.” he said, ready to take in whatever she was going to say. Nothing would be worse than what he already endured today, right? 

“It’s your code.” she started. “A label that defines your mission.” 

“My mission?” he frowned. 

“We’re here as subjects of an experiment, Peter, and you’re subject number twenty four.” 

It’s the way she was so serious while she said it that sent chills down Peter’s spine. “No, you’re— you must be kidding.” 

“You have to believe me—”

“Stop. Just— don’t say anything else.” He held up his hands in a stopping manner. 

Sweat was starting to form on the insides of his palms, and he suddenly felt lightheaded. Before she could say anything else, Peter rushed out of the suffocating space. Just as he was about to reach the door to get out, she hopelessly yelled out something after him. 

“Look for the others’ codes! They have it too!” 

He had no clue why he thought that this was a good idea in the first place. He raced towards one of the huts that were similar to the one they were keeping MJ in and shut the door after him. He had no desire to be with anyone nor to be seen. He just wanted to put an end to this never ending cycle of perplexity. He sat down on the hard mattress of the bed and buried his head in his hands. 

“This can’t be real.” he kept whispering to himself. 

No human would ever do  _ this _ . 

He didn’t know whether he should listen to her or not. He didn’t want to know if she was telling the truth. And if he listened to her and checked the others, they wouldn’t stop asking questions. He sighed in irritation, his leg bouncing up and down with adrenaline.

An idea occurred to him, and he hoped it would work. Minutes later, Peter found himself standing over Minho’s sleeping figure, his hand hovering over the back of his neck. He was scared to see what was waiting for him, and he didn’t know what he would do if what she said was true. He took a deep breath before he carefully repeated the move and his stomach dropped at the sight.

The place where the words were scribbled on his skin was hard for someone to see on their own; someone else had to search for it. And Peter found it. 

‘ **Subject 16. Valiant.** ’

Peter covered his mouth in horror, his heart pounding like a drum in his chest as he raced back to his temporary hiding spot. He paced back and forth in the small space, his mind trying to find possible logical explanations, but he was met with none. He couldn’t bring himself to get back to her and know more; he wasn’t ready for it. He just wanted to piece everything together in his mind. What’s left of it anyway. 

One person can’t count for enough proof, right? It could be just him and Minho. 

_ But why would it be him and Minho only?  _ He thought to himself. She said ‘the others’ which means that they all have codes just like him. 

The thing is, what experiment? Why were  _ they _ the subjects? What were they being tested for? And what on earth did Valiant mean?

Peter huffed and dropped down on the bed, his head giving up on him. He heard something click beneath him, and he remembered the black box he has been carrying around in his pocket. 

“Shit.” he muttered as he took it out of his pants and examined it closely. It merely cracked at the middle which fueled Peter’s interest in opening it and finding out what was in there. 

He opened the box and found a small metal chip in there confined in some sort of small black cushions. He picked it up and wondered what it could be, and why MJ insisted on giving it to him. He flicked it with his fingers, the shiny silver and black metal reflecting onto his skin. He then noticed a slit in the middle of the chip, so he laid it in the inside of his hand to have a closer look. As soon as it landed in his hand, the chip burst into something bigger, shifting and turning into more parts, clinging onto his hand and securing itself around his wrist.

Peter panicked and brought his other hand to stop what was happening but the object found his other hand and wrapped itself around it in a matter of seconds. 

“What the hell…” he breathed, looking at the strange gadget that engulfed his wrists, looking like cuffs. 

He tried to shake them off his hands, but they wouldn’t budge. His breathing was growing short from how anxious he was feeling. He still didn’t understand what it did, or what it was used for. He looked for a switch to unlock it, and he did find one. There was a silver button that was located near the inside of his hand. He hesitantly pushed it using his other hand, thinking that it would loosen and fall off, but instead, something came flying out of it. 

Peter nearly jumped out of his skin, not expecting to see a long string flying out of a bracelet. His eyes followed where the sticky substance went, and his jaw almost hit the ground. He slowly rose to his feet and walked closer to the wall. He let his hand touch it, eagerness coursing through his veins. 

Whatever came out of the device was spread across the wall in the shape of a web. A spider web. The material was soft yet strong under Peter’s touch. He brought his hands up closely to his face, to try and find any clues that might tell him who made this and why.

He squinted at it, slowly twisting his wrists in all directions so he wouldn’t miss anything. He found something written in silver at the bottom of it. The writing was so small that he had to bring it up closer to his eyes so he could identify what it said.

Peter found only two words. Two familiar words that he had read them just the night before. His pulse was so loud in his ears when he let his hands fall to his sides. 

His head spun in endless circles as he stood there with one thing repeating itself over and over in his mind.

**STARK INDUSTRIES**


	20. Chapter 20

_ Peter kicked and screamed, trying with everything in him to fight off the men who were violently dragging him away. But they have injected him with something. He felt weaker with every attempt; the ability to speak became harder. Then his eyes fell on Tony. He was trying to catch up to them, but he tripped multiple times in Peter’s blurry vision, until he fell, his body lying still.  _

_ “Tony!” was the last thing that escaped his throat, his hand reaching out to him, before everything blacked out.  _

He didn’t know how he ended up on his knees, his hands feeling for his throat that was dry. The last thing he remembers was reading what the bracelets said, and the next second he was finding it extremely difficult to breathe. 

It hit him like a flood. A wave that came crashing inside with no previous warnings. He remembers how their last embrace felt. He remembers how it felt when they yanked him away, and the look of utter fear and sorrow he saw on his mentor’s face.

_ “I’m Peter.” he smiled at the thirteen year old girl, extending out his hand for her to shake. _

_ “I’m Michelle, but you can call me MJ.” she smiled back, taking his hand. _

_ “You’re going to work here, too?” Peter couldn’t help but feel excited, and he was glad when she answered with the same contentment.  _

_ She nodded, tucking a strand of hair that hung loose over her eye, behind her ear. Her brown eyes peeked at Peter’s then back at the huge building before them. They both stared up at where they were going to spend the coming years of their life. Peter was looking forward to his time here, especially that he knew he had a friend to keep him company. _

_ “You’re the first friend I make here.” she said, her cheeks turning a little pink. _

_ “You are, too.”  _

_ “We could be best friends then!” she exclaimed a little bit too merrily, causing Peter to laugh.  _

_ “Do you promise?” he asked, a grin still covering his face.  _

_ “I promise.” she replied, tying their pinky fingers together before they both burst into a fit of giggles. _

He felt dizzy, black dots invading his vision every now and then. His chest was tight with pain, a burning sensation that settled in there, making it almost impossible for him to take a breath. 

_ The smell of May’s signature meat loaf filled their cozy kitchen, causing Peter’s stomach to grumble. _

_ She took out a plate for him, cutting two slices, along with some salad. Peter hadn’t realized that he was starving until he started devouring his food like he hasn’t eaten for three days. _

_ “How do you manage to make it better than every time?” he mumbled through a mouthful of food. _

_ May laughed from across him, “It’s not different, Peter, you’re just hungry.” _

_ “Whatever.” Peter shrugged. _

_ “So, tell me, how was it like, there?” she asked, leaning on her elbows, beaming at him with curiosity and excitement. _

“ _God,” he swallowed, remembering what he saw. “It’s like—it’s like they are on another planet!”_

_ “Well,” she said as a matter of fact, like she expected Peter to say that. _

_ Peter told her everything. How they were being watched all the time, how tiring working there seemed to everyone, but he wasn’t struggling as much as his fellow volunteers were. How happy he was for getting a chance to work at such a great place. He told her about MJ and how nice it was to have someone his age work at WCKD. Though he found a little pride in being older than her just by a year or so. _

At this point, Peter was gasping for air, his breaths a mixture of short, ragged, heard gasps. The pressure he felt was unbearable, crushing his heart and lungs with it. As if someone heard him, the door to the hut flew open, revealing a lost-looking Ned, carrying a tray of food. Ned dropped what he was holding when he found Peter and rushed to his side, panic evident on his features.

“Oh my god, what happened?!” he cried, trying to find out what could possibly be hurting him, but Peter couldn’t tell him that what hurt wasn’t physical. It came from the inside. 

The pain increased as more images played in his mind, looking like his whole life was flashing before his eyes. 

His eyes burned with tears as he tried to speak, not sure if Ned understood the faint voice that emerged out of him. “I-- c-c--can’t,” he gasped, placing his hand on his chest where he felt the pain.

His sight kept blurring and clearing, but Ned was quick to snap him back to reality. 

“Peter, focus on my voice.” he held his shoulders tightly, keeping him in place. “Breathe.” he said as he took in a deep breath and slowly let it out, waiting for Peter to do the same.

_ “The noise. It’s-- it’s too loud.” Peter pressed the heels of his hands to his temples, trying to stop the constant buzzing sound he was hearing.  _

_ “You will get used to it.” Matt softly smiled. “You just have to focus.”  _

_ “How?” Peter desperately asked. _

_ “Tune out the unimportant sounds. Say, the clock ticking, someone tapping their fingers on a surface, such things are unnecessary.” Peter nodded. _

_ “How is your sixth sense thing going?” he asked.  _

_ “It’s-- I don’t know. Never really faced a real threat.” Peter shrugged.  _

_ “Hmm.” Matt mumbled, silence filling the room afterwards.  _

_ In the flash of a second, Matt’s arm came swinging at Peter, but Peter successfully blocked it, stopping Matt.  _

_ “How about now?” he smirked. _

_ “Is that the best you’ve got?” Peter chuckled, bringing his arms up to protect his face. _

_ “Slow down, Spider-Man. You might get hurt.” Matt snickered, taking off his shades and setting them aside, mimicking Peter’s fighting position. _

_ “I’d like to see you try.” he said, adrenaline starting to fire up his next move _

Peter tried to listen to Ned, but it was hard. “ _ You have to breathe _ , Peter!” he raised his voice to an alarming tone, getting Peter’s attention.

He fixed his eyes on him, and tried to let himself calm down, following the slow breathing rhythm Ned was doing. 

“That’s right.” Ned nodded, “Breathe. You’re okay.” 

Peter’s heart was still pounding hard in his chest. His breathing got better, but he was still panting. He felt the tightness gradually fade away as he drew in more breaths and slowly exhaled them out. He fell back, resting his back against the wall. His hands were shaking, sweat rolling down his forehead, yet he couldn’t feel the tips of his fingers from how cold they were. He closed his eyes, glad that his short-lived panic attack went away. He was aware that it was only a matter of minutes, but it sure didn’t feel like it. He heard Ned collapse next to him, sighing in relief. 

Peter could feel his heart rate pick up every time he remembered something, and it took everything in his strength not to let his mind drift away again. 

“Don’t you  _ ever  _ do that again.” Ned uttered. “First Minho and then you.” he could already hear Ned raising his hands in despair.

Peter opened his eyes, and was relieved when he found that the room had stopped spinning. He turned his head to look at his friend, who has just saved his life.

“How did you know I was here?” Peter asked.

“I didn’t.” Ned shrugged. “I was looking for you. Thought you would need to eat something.” he referred to the broken bowl of soup and the crumbs of bread that were lying on the ground.

“Thank you, Ned.” Peter smiled, his heart warm at the gesture.

“Are you alright?” Ned asked quietly. 

“No.” he shook his head. “I haven’t had a panic attack since my parents died.” he whispered.

“What happened? What caused you to— wait, you remember your parents?” Ned’s eyes widened. 

“I remember everything.” Peter admitted for the first time.

“Peter, that’s huge.” he gaped. “Did you talk to the girl?” 

“Yes, no.” Peter answered, shaking his head right after he said no. “It’s-- she barely told me anything.” 

“Then  _ what happened _ ?” Ned repeated his question. 

Peter fumbled with his hands, his fingers tracing the newly worn device. “I don’t know. I was standing just right here when--” Peter stopped talking, putting the pieces together. He jumped to his feet, and Ned followed, scrambling on his way up. He followed Peter’s gaze that landed on the web that stuck to the wall.

“Okay, should I be worried?” he nervously asked. 

“It was a trigger.” Peter said, a smile starting to form on his lips. “It was a trigger!” he repeated, laughing.

He knew that this would help him remember who he is. They talked for hours about the possibility of creating it. Peter remembers the first time he developed his own web fluid and how proud Tony was when he saw it. He promised he would build him suitable web shooters. 

_ He wanted him to have this. _

“You need to calm down before I, too, start freaking out.” Ned covered his face with his hands.

“Sorry.” Peter breathed.

“Why is there a huge spider web on the wall? And what’s that? Around your hands?” 

“I will tell you everything.” Peter calmly started. 

“But?” 

“But not now.” he apologized.

“ _ Not now? _ ” Ned hissed. “Peter, do you realize how big this is?” 

“I know! I know.” he lowered his voice.

“I gotta tell Newt.” 

Peter’s stomach dropped. “No! You can’t tell Newt.” 

“What do you mean I can’t tell Newt?” Ned frowned.

“I mean,  _ you  _ can’t tell him. I think he should know this from me.” he corrected himself, hoping that Ned would believe him. 

He stared at him for a while, his eyes full of unanswered questions before he said, “You’re right.” 

“I’ll talk to him.” Peter reassured him once again. “Just don’t tell anyone about this for now. Please.” 

“Don’t worry.” he smiled, seeming to have calmed down now. 

“Thank you.” Peter placed a hand on his shoulder, before he headed towards the door, knowing where exactly he should be right now.

“Wait! Where are you going?” Ned yelled after him.

“There’s something I have to do.” he said and rushed out of the door before Ned could ask another question.

His heart raced all the way to where MJ was. Now that he remembers, now that he knows who she is, the thought of seeing her again felt different.

“Peter?” she asked, standing up. Her eyes were hesitant, almost scared of what he was going to say. He remembered how it went the last time he showed up here and his heart sunk in regret.

He couldn’t help but wrap his arms around her, holding her tight. She hugged him back, her fists clutching his clothes in them. “Hey.” he whispered into her hair, feeling how much he has missed his life-time best friend.

“You..” she breathed, pulling back only for Peter to see her eyes glistening with tears. “It worked.” she smiled, her eyes letting go of the liquid they held.

“Yes.” Peter assured, wiping at her cheeks. “If you ask me, I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing.” he joked, earning a light laugh from her. 

They took a seat across from each other, MJ sitting on the bed while he settled on the floor. 

“What happened?” was the only thing he could manage to ask. “How did we get here?” and he didn’t mean the place. He wanted to know how they went from being the best at what they did to  _ this _ . 

“So much happened.” MJ said, her eyes distant, as if she was seeing something he couldn’t see. “WCKD was never the place we thought it was.” 

“Clearly.” Peter scoffed, remembering what happened. 

“But why us?” 

“It is not us, Peter. It’s you.” she gulped. 

Peter shuddered, “ _ Me _ ?” 

“You’re the easiest way to get to Tony.” she sadly said, looking down at her hands that were folded in her lap.

Peter couldn’t stop the pang of hurt he felt at the mere mention of his name. “He found something and they tried to get back at him through me.” 

“Not just something.” she nervously said, scooting closer to him so no one could hear them, even though they were alone.

“They were never going to get past the Maze. Fisk made sure they don’t.” 

“ _ Fisk _ ?” the image of the bald, fairly nice man popped into his head. “What could he possibly have done?” 

“Peter, he’s the reason why you’re here. He’s the reason why those horrible creatures are out there.” she sounded angry, but still kept her voice low.

“I knew it.” he whispered. He knew too well that Tony would never create something as inhumane as that. “I saw something last night.” 

“Don’t even get me started on this.” she snapped. “You just love to throw yourself into trouble, do you?” 

“Were you worried or something?” Peter teased. 

She glared at him, before her lips quirked up into a smile. “You wish.” 

Peter briefly shook his head, getting back to their discussion. “The monsters, they had Tony’s name written on them. His official one, Stark Industries.” 

“That son of a bitch.” MJ whispered. 

“I still don’t understand, why would Fisk do that? And why has Stane been quiet about it?” 

“Stane is dead.” she announced.

“What?” he was starting to regret asking her in the first place. “H-how did that happen? How is it even possible?”

“Tony suspects that Fisk killed him. He’s almost sure.” she said, her voice still cautiously low.

“Why would he kill his partner, I-- I can’t,” Peter shook his head, trying to process every word that left MJ’s lips. “Tony knew all about this?” 

“Yes, it’s why Fisk did what he did.” she said, referring to his presence here. “He just wants the full blueprints to himself and screw everything else.”

“Are you sure we’re talking about the same place?” Peter uneasily joked, hoping that she would be joking and that none of this is actually real. But her silence confirmed that she was serious. 

“If what you’re saying is true, we can’t let them die.” he said. 

“Why do you think I’m here?” she smiled. “And why do you think your label says ‘Leader’?” 

“I haven’t thought about it.” he replied, not getting what she was hinting at. Although he has spent the whole day thinking what it could mean.

“You’re the one who is supposed to  _ lead _ us out of here.” 

“You’ve got to be kidding.” Peter chuckled. “Me.” he pointed at himself in disbelief. 

“ _ Yes _ ?” she answered in a knowing tone. “Do you see someone else with superpowers here?” 

“Well, no but--”

“Then it’s true. Whether you like it or not.” she shrugged her shoulders.

“It’s not me who would like it or not.” Peter remembered Newt, Ned, Minho, and all the others. “Do you think they’ll still accept me when they find out who I am?” 

“They have no choice.” she said, as a matter of fact.

“I know this sounds crazy for the amount of time I spent here, but they’re my friends, too, and all I keep thinking about is that  _ I  _ have been part of everything that happened to them.” he rested his head in his hands. 

Minho getting hurt, him fighting with Newt, Gally continuously mistreating him, Ned’s blind trust in him, everything just made it harder for him to explain himself in front of them.

“We did this to them.” he whispered. 

“Peter, we don’t differ a lot from them. We did what we were told. We did what we thought was right.” she placed her hand on his tense shoulder. 

“Now, look at us. We’re just as desperate as they are to get out of here.” he looked around him. “The only difference is that they don’t know what’s coming.” 

“That’s a good thing then.” she softly smiled. 

“Peter, I saw you. I saw how everyone was in awe every time you acted. They are going to accept you. They have to.” 

He buried his face in his hands and blew out a deep breath before he uncovered his face to say something. 

“You know, I had a panic attack today, when my memories came back.” he quietly said, his voice turning into a whisper at the end because it broke. 

“Oh, Peter.” her expression was laced with sadness. Her hand found his and held tightly onto it, filling his writhing heart with comfort.

“I haven’t had one in years.” his eyebrows were knit together, trying to stop him from crying. “Only this time May wasn’t around to help me go through it.” he smiled weakly, looking down at his lap as a teardrop fell onto his leg. “It hurt so much. Everything just hit me like a train. You, Tony, May, Matt,” he took a breath. “Almost everyone I can’t have right now.” 

“Ned found me though.” he smiled a small smile in relief. “If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have made it.”

“They’re good people, MJ.” he looked at her. 

“So are you.” she smiled, pulling him closer into a hug. He hugged her back, letting himself get used to the feeling of having her in his arms. It was a rare gesture found in the nature of their playful, childish friendship. 

But he couldn’t fully believe her words when he developed every trial with Tony. He knew everything they would go through and he still went with it, believing that it was the right thing to do. 

“I can’t fail them.” he wiped his cheeks after they broke their embrace.

“For once in your miserable life,” she playfully nudged him. “Stop doubting yourself. You can do this.” 

“How can you be so sure?” 

“Have you forgotten that we literally grew up together?” she raised her eyebrows at him.

“Have we?” Peter smirked. “Because my memory is still a little fuzzy.” 

“Shut up.” she laughed.

And for the first time, Peter felt content. He was glad to have MJ by his side. But he couldn’t ignore the ache that found its way into his heart now that he got his memories back. The pain of longing to see someone so bad, but you can’t. 

“I miss him.” Peter muttered after long moments of silence. 

“I know.” MJ left the mattress she was sitting on and took a seat on the floor next to Peter, resting her head on his shoulder. “He hasn’t left you for one second.” she said, adding to the pain he was already feeling. “He spends all his time watching you and figuring out how to get you out of here in the fastest time possible.” 

“I wouldn’t expect something less.” Peter answered, a ghost of a smile shaping his lips. 

“We have to talk to the others.” she reminded him. 

“Yeah.” he sighed, already starting to feel how heavy this burden was becoming. “Let’s just hope they believe us.” 

“They will.” she assured him.

He rolled his eyes, not wanting to repeat what he told her earlier. “I didn’t believe you at first, you know.” 

“Because you’re an idiot.” she said it so nonchalantly that it made Peter laugh when he didn’t even feel like it. 

“No, seriously, how are we going to prove it?” 

“We won’t.” MJ pouted. Peter questionably raised an eyebrow. 

“I have a plan.  _ We _ ,” she corrected. “Have a plan.” 

“We as in, you and I?” 

“You, Tony, Matt, and I.” she said, and Peter could swear that he could feel a slight pain in his jaw from how wide his mouth opened in surprise. 

“You’re just telling me about this  _ now _ ?” 

MJ scoffed, “I’m sorry, I was too busy filling you in on the hot stuff.” 

Peter laughed at her short-tempered reply, remembering that this was one of the things they had in common. 

“Sorry.” Peter raised his hands in defense. 

“You know, I managed to earn myself a new nickname here.” he glanced at her in amusement. 

“Blow me.” MJ faked an ‘interested to know’ expression.

“Fireball.” 

“What the fuck is that?” she laughed, her nose scrunched up in confusion.

“That’s the thing.” Peter tilted his head to the side. “It could be anything. It could mean energetic, hot,  _ short-tempered _ .” he stressed the last meaning, knowing that she would get the joke. 

“Idiot.” she rolled her eyes, a smile plastered on her face. 

“Admit it, you missed me.” Peter grinned.

“You have no idea.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only more 7 chapters to go! Now that MJ is here, do you think things are going to get better or worse? *dramatic music in the background* nvm me


	21. Chapter 21

Peter stood with his hands curled on either side of him, his heart racing in his chest. MJ matched his position, her head nervously turning to him every now and then as they waited. They have just told them  _ everything _ , and Peter was ready to take any blame that was going to be thrown at him. They were hesitant to decide whether MJ should be with him or not, but they went with the latter anyway. It was night time, the wind wasn’t too strong tonight, leaving them with a slight cold breeze. Newt looked as if he was struggling to keep up with what Peter said, having his arms crossed over his chest and his eyebrows knit together in thought. As for Minho, he looked like he was going to kill all three of them with no second thoughts. He was much better now, and Peter came to know that he left the med-bay earlier. 

“So, it’s either we listen to you, or die.” Minho narrowed his eyes. 

Peter gulped, not knowing how to answer to his blunt comment. He so vaguely nodded, confirming Minho’s words.

“You’re so lucky you’re even talking, right now.” He gritted his teeth, glancing at both of them. 

“Wait a second,” Newt held up his hand, speaking for the first time. “If you used to work at that WCKD place, why are you here? Why do you want to help us anyway?” 

“Because no one deserves this! They can’t just get what they want and then get rid of us like lab rats.” Peter uttered, meaning every word he said.

“But you were okay with that just a little while ago.” Minho said bitterly. 

Silence fell among them, Minho’s words hitting them once again. Yes, he was okay with this because he had no idea that this would happen. No one did. He thought that everything he worked for served one good purpose; finding a cure for the Flare. He just didn’t know that it would end up like this. 

“Listen, if we have  _ one  _ chance of getting out of here, it’s through Peter. So, you can pack it up and start acting like adults and weep later.” MJ confidently broke the silence, catching them all off guard. Peter didn’t think it was a good idea to provoke them, especially when they weren’t sure what the young men’s reactions would be.

Minho looked offended, his nostrils flaring in anger. He stepped forward, but Newt’s hand came stopping him. 

“She’s right.” he calmly said. 

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Minho scoffed and retreated, listening to Newt.

“As much as I’m uncomfortable with the idea of you being a part of this shit,” he started, and Peter knew that what Newt was going to say would be right and carefully thought through. And for that, he was thankful.

“What matters is that you’re here, now. You want to fix this, and we all want to leave this fucking mess.” He gestured around them at the weapon-filled room, where he and Minho first took Peter to show him the map of the Maze. 

“You won’t regret it.” Peter answered quietly, mentally sighing in relief.

“I know I won’t, because if I do, I’m coming after you.” He playfully warned, “for real this time.” 

Peter shook his head with a grin. 

“And you,” Newt glanced at Minho, “do yourself a favor and man up.” He smacked his shoulder.

Minho grunted before his eyes shifted to Peter. “You know you have us on your side.” Peter nodded in appreciation. 

“You can actually sling webs, huh?” Minho joked, a bit uncomfortable as his eyes looked curiously down at Peter’s hands.

“Uhm,” Peter glanced at MJ with humor in his eyes, and was glad when he saw the same shimmer of fun in her eyes. “Wanna see?” 

“Why do I get the f--” before Minho’s suspicions grew, Peter had already shot a web at his hand, sticking it to his chest.

“WHAT THE FUCK?” He howled, but his voice was drowned by Newt, MJ and Peter’s laughs. 

Newt clapped his hand against Peter’s in a high five, giving him a ‘good one’ look. One thing that never failed to amaze Peter, was how easy-going his encounters with Minho, Newt and Ned were. Despite everything that happened in the past few days, and despite them knowing the truth, they didn’t give him a hard time. Part of him knew that this wasn’t much of a choice; them holding a grudge against him wouldn’t get them anywhere. They were all stuck here for the meantime, might as well make the best of it while they could. 

“You’re so dead.” Minho spat.

“Chill.” Peter chuckled. “It will dissolve in two hours.” 

“ _Two hours?!_ ” 

“Well, you kinda deserved it.” Peter shrugged with an amused look on his face and shortly looked at MJ, referring to when Minho thought he could cross her.

“Oh, I see.” He smirked.

“You see what?” MJ snickered, crossing her arms.

“He’s getting all puffy tough-y over you.” Minho raised his eyebrows.

They both scoffed at the same time, earning a chuckle from Minho. Their eyes awkwardly met before they diverted their attention back at the two Gladers standing with them. They stayed quiet for a few minutes, each of them busy with what was going through their mind. Peter was starting to feel the weight of leading the whole Glade out of the Maze. He and MJ had told them everything about leaving. He remembers one of the routes that lead to the exit quite well. 

“We need to start informing the others.” Newt stated. 

“And train them.” Minho added. 

Peter agreed with them, “I don’t think we have enough time to train them all, but they will have to be able to at least defend themselves.” 

“Don’t worry, I got this.” Newt squeezed Peter’s shoulder in assurance.

“What about you?” Minho looked at MJ. 

“What about her?” Peter curiously asked, the question catching his attention.

“Does she--” 

“I’m right here, dude.” MJ cooly corrected, wanting him to address her directly.

“Do  _ you _ ,” Minho blinked, “know anything about weapons? I mean, how are you--”

“It’s okay, I can--” Peter jumped in, but MJ cut them off.

“Shut up. Both of you.” 

Peter arched his eyebrows and raised his hands in defense, stepping back. Minho mimicked him, raising the hand that wasn’t webbed to his chest. 

“Give me that.” She nodded towards something that was hanging on the wall, among the other weapons.

“ _ That?  _ No way.” Newt shook his head, pointing at the crossbow. “We haven’t tried that yet.” 

“Do you want to be my first target?” She challenged, her eyes fixed on Newt. 

“Jeez,” Newt breathed, moving towards the armory wall. He pulled the crossbow down and handed it to MJ while Peter dazed at them. “Knock yourself out.” It was already fixed with an arrow, ready to be released any minute.

Peter watched as MJ faced Minho, her posture held high and steady as she raised her arms and set the weapon close to her eyes. She closed one eye and squinted, in order to focus. “Don’t move.” she calmly said to Minho who looked like he was going to jump out of his skin or jump at MJ for doing that.

In a split second, an arrow came flying over Minho’s head, and perfectly landed right above him. He blew out a breath that he seemed to have been holding for a while, before he spoke up. 

“You two have got some serious issues.” he said, looking up at the silver pointed head arrow. 

Newt laughed and took down the arrow. He threw it in Peter’s direction, pulling him out of the wave of bewilderment he was in. He caught it and stared at it in awe, flicking it with his fingers. 

“I better go tell Ned and the few others who will be responsible for training the rest of us.” He patted Peter’s back on his way out, Minho following. 

“I like her.” Minho fondly said, loud enough for Peter to hear, but careful not to let MJ hear him. Peter smiled to himself, taking pride in what his best-friend just did.

“Hey,” Peter called after him. “You wanna walk around like that?” He tittered, pointing at the barely fading webs. 

Minho rolled his eyes and approached him again. Peter easily ripped off the web, freeing his hand. 

“Bastard.” he laughed, referring to the fact that Peter purposely left him webbed. 

Minho turned to walk away, following Newt’s steps, while Peter went back into the room. He raised the arrow in his hand in a questioning manner, expressing how surprised he was with what MJ did. 

She smirked, casually setting the crossbow down. “Thought you were the only one with powers?” 

“How did you-- When?” Peter smiled, not remembering one time she ever mentioned that she was interested in archery, let alone being  _ this  _ good at it.

“Well, I have secrets of my own.” she shrugged, stepping closer to him. 

“Are there any other secrets that I should know about?” he asked, amused with how the conversation was going.

Peter noticed a slight hesitation in her eyes that went away the second she spoke, “that I can kick your ass with no difficulty?” she teased, and Peter had a feeling that this wasn’t what she was going to say.

“Is that so?” he laughed. 

“Too hard of a pill to swallow for your Spider-Man pride?” 

“Not at all!” Peter raised his eyebrows. “In fact, I’ll give you a chance.” 

“ _ You. _ ” she seemed surprised by his impulsive offer.

“Yeah.” he nodded, taking a few steps back and raising his hands. “I won’t use my web shooters.” 

“How  _ kind  _ of you, Spider-Man.” she mocked, a smile etched onto her face. 

“Come on.” Peter challenged, curiosity and excitement starting to fire up his insides.

He has never seen this side of MJ, but he couldn’t deny that it sparked something in him. Something quite unfamiliar, but he enjoyed it.

“This is going to be fun.” she grinned before she took one long stride towards him and ducked down, sliding her leg against the floor, aiming for his feet. Peter jumped, successfully skipping her attempt to trip him off his feet. 

She wasted no time in striking again, trying to punch him but failing more than once, until Peter moved to stop her, capturing both of her hands in his and spinning her so that her back was pressed against him. He firmly held her hands that were crossed and pinned to her chest. They were both panting, despite the fact that he barely made any effort. His chin was almost resting on her shoulder as he whispered, “You’re easier to beat when you’re distracted.” 

However, MJ didn’t like his snarky comment because she spun herself the other way, forcing herself out of his grip. “Maybe I just went easy on you?” 

“Of course!” he sarcastically exclaimed. “When did you become this--  _ you _ .” he struggled to put it into words. He felt like he missed on a lot, even though he was gone for a few days. 

“What do you mean?” she frowned. 

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen you like this before.” 

“Because you never had the chance to.” she shrugged. 

“I don’t know whether I should be glad to have gotten the chance or not.” he joked, referring to their horrible situation. 

“Just be glad that we got a chance to save these people.” She genuinely said, walking over to the wooden door. “You better go see how they’re doing. I’ll see you later.” she smiled a small smile before she left, leaving him to his spiralling mind.

“See ya.” he said back, even though she was already halfway towards the small huts on the other side of the Glade.

He was feeling so many things at a time, but they weren’t all bad. Confusion would not count as a good one, though right now it wasn’t complete perplexity; it was twisted with excitement. A feeling that left him feeling like he was as light as a feather as he walked in search for his friends. He had no idea where that feeling came from, and he didn’t know whether he had felt it before but chose to ignore it, or he had never felt it until he saw her again. Peter spotted Ned sitting by one of the fires that was still blazing with bright orange flames. He took a seat next to him on the tree log.

He saw him busy with something, holding a pocket knife in his hand and in the other was a small piece of wood. 

“What have you got there?” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs. 

“Oh, it’s nothing.” he smiled at the slightly shaped wood. “I’m making something for my little sister. You know, for when I see her.” 

Peter smiled, realising that Newt and Minho had already told him everything. And the fact that this was the first thing Ned turned to, made it harder for him to think of one possibility where their plan could go wrong. It can’t. He owes every one of them, he owes them a chance of surviving.

“What are you planning on making?” he softly asked, hoping that his voice didn’t sound muffled by the lump that grew in his throat.

“I’m aiming for a horse, but I don’t know if I can actually make it.” he laughed, blowing onto the object, making wood powder fly into the fire. 

“I’m sure it will turn out just perfect. She will love it.” he grinned.

Ned silently agreed with him, before he set aside his tools and looked at Peter intently. “Are you scared?”

Peter hesitated for a second, “No,” he clasped his hands tightly together. “I’m more determined to get out of here than scared.” 

“You must be, Peter.” he comfortingly said, “If you can remember everything, then you know what is waiting for us in the Maze. That must be scary.” 

Peter sighed and looked up at the dark sky. He was hoping he wouldn’t have to face this part of his feelings. But unfortunately, emotions like fear, worry, or dread can’t be ignored. Not for long anyway.

“I’d be lying if I said I’m not.” he apologetically lowered his gaze back at Ned.

“It’s okay to be scared, but it’s not okay to doubt for a second that you can’t do this. I know you will.” his teeth showed as his lips spread wider in a smile.

“That’s what scares me, Ned. What if I fail all of you? All of those who have this faith in me like I’m their way to salvation? What if someone gets hurt? That would be on  _ me _ .” he placed his hand on his chest, pointing at himself.

“You can’t save everyone. You have to keep that in mind.” 

“He has to keep what in mind?” Minho’s voice echoed, playfully catching Peter in a headlock. 

“Piss off!” Peter grunted, shoving Minho’s arm away, laughing afterwards as he sat down next to him while Newt sat across him beside Ned. “You just want me to web your hands to yourself, do you?” 

“God, no.” Minho laughed. “They’re good where they are.” 

“Then you better watch it, valiant boy.” Peter teased, knowing that none of them would understand what he’s saying.

He laughed at their reactions before he smacked the back of Minho’s neck. “It’s what his tattoo says.” 

“How the hell did you know? And what is it supposed to mean?” he rubbed at his neck.

“I snuck up on you.” Peter amusingly said. “It should mean what you’re supposed to do here, or describe who you are.” 

“Should?” Minho asked, confused. 

“He means to say that he disagrees with whoever inked you.” Newt remarked, “and he’s not alone.” he laughed, Peter and Ned joining him.

“When we get out there, you all will see.” Minho bragged, pointing at each one of them. “And let’s see what yours says,  _ Newt _ .” he narrowed his eyes at him.

“At least it is not going to be a lie.” he chuckled as Minho forced his neck to the side and squinted to see in the dim light of the fire. 

“No way.” Minho cackled. 

“What is it?” Newt asked, panic evident in his voice. 

“Oh, you’re gonna love this.” he withdrew his hands and said, “it says that you’re the Alpha.” 

Newt’s eyebrows arched in surprise as he looked at Peter. “I told you, I’m the one in charge.” he rallied, causing them all to laugh.

“What about me?” Ned asked.

“Let’s see,” Minho said as he made his way towards Ned who was ready with his neck craned, waiting for him. Peter watched as he repeated his previous moves before he spoke up. 

“Benevolent.” he uttered, looking up at them. 

“It’s right though.” Peter smiled.

Newt ruffled Ned’s hair, who held a shy smile to his face. “Yeah.” 

“If I’m being honest, we wouldn’t last a day without Ned.” Minho surprisingly and so seriously said.

“Look at you being wise.” Peter mocked.

“Look at you being a lover-boy.” he said back, referring to when they were all with MJ.

“Shut up, Minho.” Peter scoffed, smiling in the process. “Stop making comments about it. We’re friends. Best-friends. That’s it.” 

“Whatever you say.” he raised his eyebrows, but Peter could see that he was smirking, so Newt hit him on the head, catching the hint that Peter was bothered by his meaningless remarks, while Ned shortly glared at him.

_ Are they really meaningless, though?  _

A voice inside his head jumped at him, but Peter shrugged it off, turning to speak to Newt. “Have you informed the others?” 

“A few, yeah.” he nodded.

“How do you think they’ll react?” Peter nervously asked, imagining Newt facing the whole Glade and telling them that they all have to leave through the Maze as soon as they could. It wouldn’t be easy.

“Let  _ me  _ worry about that.” Newt replied. “You just focus on remembering everything you can.” 

“Of course.” Peter confirmed.

They quieted down, the only sounds in the air becoming these of the twigs burning or leaves dancing with the wind, before a third sound occurred, shaking the four Gladers. The sound of stone walls moving reached their ears, as the ground vibrated beneath them. Sparks of fire flew in the air at the impact. Their eyes darted to each other in an alarming manner, each of them having the same question written on their face. What was that? The sound was familiar, but its timing was unusual. 

“Are the walls supposed to change now?” Peter cautiously asked, his eyes trying to adjust to the darkness where the Maze was so he could see if anything changed.

“No, they’re not.” Newt’s eyebrows were drawn together in concern. 

“Unless we lost track of time.” Minho added, “Which is something that I doubt.” 

“Nothing changed though.” Ned said as he gazed into the distance. “No walls are opened. It must be inside.” 

“That’s usual, right?” Peter directed his question at Newt. 

“Yeah, but it occurs when it’s barely before dawn.” he slowly said, as if he was trying to remember. 

He sighed, “We better get some sleep. We have a long day tomorrow. It would also be a good idea to stay away from the Maze right now.” he lightly joked at the last sentence as he stood up. 

Minho followed, “I could use some rest.” 

Ned and Peter stayed for a bit. “You should get up, too.” said Ned.

“Yeah, I will. After you.” 

“Don’t stay for long, then.” Ned shot him a warm, concerned look. “Goodnight, Peter.” he smiled before he headed to where they slept, leaving Peter alone.

“Goodnight.” he quietly replied.

His eyes stared at the fire that still refused to burn out and his mind drifted to Tony. So much has happened in such a short time, that he felt like he wasn’t able to feel anything properly. It was a good and a bad thing, for he didn’t have to feel too much of anything whether it was pain, sorrow, emptiness, or fear. Bad when it came to the good moments; the happiness, the warmth, the sense of familiarity and belonging he felt when he was reunited with MJ. He wants to feel this again, he wants to see Tony and feel the exact same overwhelming type of happiness. 

As much as he hates the part of his work life, and what it all turned out to be based on, he misses working with Tony. He misses spending hours with him trying to figure out where the error is. It was so simple back then. He liked his life routine, and he knew he wouldn’t change a thing for it, even after he became Spider-Man. Peter wondered what he could be doing right now. He wondered if he was thinking about him just like Peter was. He sighed to himself and got up, deciding not to let himself give in to the feelings of despair that were slowly crawling their way up his heart the longer he stayed alone.

On his way, Peter stopped by where MJ was staying to check if she needed anything. Or just for no reason, but he found himself knocking on the door, hoping she wasn’t asleep. “Come in.” he voice came out small and peaceful unlike earlier.

Peter pushed the door open and walked in, shutting it afterwards. “Hey.” he greeted her.

“Hey.” she smiled, hiding something behind her back.

“What have you got behind your back?” he raised an eyebrow.

“Nothing.” she stepped back. 

“Let me see.” Peter peeked, but she backed away again. 

“Give me one second.” she held up one finger. “Close your eyes.” 

“What?” he scrunched up his nose.

“Just do it.” she rolled her eyes. 

“Alright.” he shrugged and listened. 

He heard shuffling around him, and was unable to fathom what she was doing, until she urged him to open his eyes. She was standing beside him with a genuine smile on her face, and her hands rested under her chin in excitement, but there was a hint of sadness in her demeanor. 

“What’s that?” he asked, looking at the piece of bread that laid on the table with an almost worn out candle in the middle of it in confusion.

“Have you forgotten?” she sadly asked, her excitement fading away once she saw his lack of sharing the same vibes. 

“Forgotten what?” he still didn’t know what she was trying to do.

“Peter, it’s midnight.” she said, and it hit him. “Today’s your birthday.” 


	22. Chapter 22

He took one last glance at the place he had been staying at ever since he came across WCKD. It looked emptier now with nothing of his possession left there. All of his projects, finished and unfinished, his equipment, his clothes, everything, and now it was going to be completely vacant. He pulled the black hood over his head, adjusted his backpack over his shoulder and fled, leaving behind everything that had to do with WCKD. As he headed towards the first step of their plan, he knew that it would only be a matter of hours before Fisk figured out that he was gone and that what was moving right now in Tony’s apartment, was only a hologram that he created to keep him covered while he snuck out of the building. 

The sun was setting down, leaving flares of bright orange and traces of pink in the sky. The air was still carrying the warmth of the day, but by the time Tony arrived at the place Matt told him he would meet him at, the sun had already gone, taking what was left of the light and warmth with it. He found the set of stairs that led to the underground facility Matt was running. It still sounded foreign to Tony, but he tried to ignore any personal feelings that could get in the way of their plan. He closed the door behind him and locked it. He attached a network service insulator to it, so that they couldn’t be detected on WCKD’s radar. Tony walked down the dark tunnel, the smell of damp walls filling his nostrils on the way. 

He reached another flight of stairs that led to yet another door. He strode them up and knocked three, loud knocks and waited. Seconds later, the door flew open, revealing a whole other world with Matt standing at the door. 

“Welcome to the Resistance.” He smiled his usual genuine smile, shortly blinking as he welcomed him inside and shut the door. 

“Can’t believe I let you talk me into this.” Tony shook his head.

They surprisingly hugged, casually patting each other on the back before they pulled away. 

Tony couldn’t lie to himself. He missed having him around. 

“I’m still not happy with this step.” he repeated, not liking the idea of leading Fisk right to a place Matt has been working so hard for. 

“And I told you that you still being there wasn’t the best idea.” Matt replied, walking with Tony to a separate room. 

The whole place was obviously one wide floor under ground, filled with computers, wires of connections, even some walls had weapons hanging on them. Dangerously good weapons; shotguns, tasers, snipers, all sorts of ammunition were stacked in boxes here and there. He spotted numerous people seated on their desks, their eyes glued to the screen in front of them. Of course it wasn’t as developed and modern as what he saw in WCKD, but he knew that what they had was good enough to take those bastards down. Besides, Tony was here now, and he had everything they would just need and maybe a little more. 

As soon as they were alone, Tony set his bag onto the small bed that was pushed against the wall facing him. 

“You can unpack and stay here.” Matt started. “It’s not much, but—“

“It’s fine.” Tony nodded, wanting anything but to feel like his presence was going to be of any trouble.

“Are you sure?” Matt eyed him. 

“Yeah, let’s just set everything up.” he said, avoiding his gaze by unzipping his backpack. 

“Alright, I’ll go call for the people you should meet.” he said and walked out of the room. 

Tony got a few things from his bag, the first thing he made sure he did was to operate the streaming of what was happening at the Glade. He set it aside and just as he was about to get the rest of his equipment out, he saw Matt motioning for him to come through the door that was left ajar. He was standing with a dark haired woman, probably the one Tony saw with Matt in the video Fisk showed him. She was shorter than him, and a lot thinner. She stood with her arms crossed over her chest and eyed Tony all the way until he stopped on Matt’s other side around the table they surrounded. Next to her was a guy with dirty blond hair and a scowl you could see from quite a distance. He was wearing an olive green jacket that made his icy green eyes stand out. There was another woman beside him. Tall, blonde, with mesmerizing blue eyes and a steady confident posture. The last of them was a man; short in height, a bit stout, indicating that he didn’t move a lot. His light brown hair was neatly combed to the side and he was the only one who seemed to be holding what could be called a smile to his face.

“Well, if it isn’t Tony Stark himself.” the black haired woman mocked. 

Matt impatiently sighed. Tony kind of understood the foul behavior. He was standing in the place that aimed to take down everything he willingly started after all. 

“Tony, meet Jessica.” Matt gestured his hand between them. Tony nodded at her, sparing himself the rejection if he extended out his hand to shake hers, and either way, he wasn’t one for formal greetings. She looked away in disinterest. 

“Danny Rand.” the guy in the green jacket said, reaching for Tony’s hand. “It’s good to have you on our side, Mr. Stark.”

Tony shook his hand, “thanks.” He could feel the pressure of being unwanted here starting to build up. “Please, just Tony.”

Jessica scoffed, “Really, Danny? Good to have you on our side? You could do better.” She rolled her eyes as she said the last sentence.

Tony previously discussed this with Matt, and they both expected something like that to happen but not to  _ this extent _ . 

“Pack it up, Jess.” the blonde lady retorted. “He’s here now.” 

Tony nodded towards her in appreciation, then glanced back at Jessica, “see, you could learn from that.” he said, referring to what the tall woman said. 

“Actually, I don’t disagree with her. I was just trying to be nice.” She licked her plump lips, looking the other way. 

_ Wow, okay..  _

“We wouldn’t have been here today if it wasn’t for  _ you _ .” She angrily pointed at him. “Screw you and your greatest inventions,  _ Tony Stark _ .” 

“Jessica!” Matt yelled.

“I’ve been listening to you long enough, now, you hear me out.” she protested.

“I’m not fighting for you, and I would not, under any circumstances, sacrifice anything for you. I’m only doing this for Matt.” She glanced at the silently fuming Matt next to her.

“Listen,” Tony quietly addressed, folding his hands behind his back. “You have a right to be pissed at me. You all do.” He pointed at all of them. 

“I know I screwed up, and I paid for it.” The image of Peter flashed in his mind. “But whether you like it or not, you need me. We won’t be able to do what we want without access to WCKD.” He pointed at himself, remembering that he still had access to their internal security system. 

“So, you can save your comments to yourself.” he ended. 

“We don’t—“ Jessica was about to argue again, but a voice stopped her.

“Enough! All of you. This is a time when we should stand together, not fight. This is what Fisk would want. He wants us to fail, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t wanna fail.” The short guy shut them all up, including Tony himself. 

“Mr. Stark,” he approached Tony. “Foggy Nelson, at your service.” He smiled, shaking Tony’s hand.

He stood speechless, not knowing what to say. He wanted to thank him for what he said, but no words came out. He just warmly shook his hand back. He saw Jessica cowering away from the corner of his eye, but signs of disapproval were still on her face. He also saw Danny whisper-yelling something to her, until Matt appeared in his vision, blocking Danny and Jessica out of it. 

“And here are Karen and Foggy.” Matt introduced, pointing at the blonde lady and the guy whom he just greeted.

“Karen Page.” She curtly nodded, sounding a lot nicer than before. 

Tony was surprised at how much of a difference Foggy’s little speech made. 

“They’re my best tech geeks.” Matt teased. 

“You’re calling us geeks now?” Foggy chortled. 

“ _ The  _ best ones?” Matt raised his eyebrows. 

“I’m sorry for what happened to you.” Karen tucked a strand of her shiny blond hair behind her ear. “Matt told us about— you know.” She apologetically looked at him. 

“Your feelings are appreciated, Miss Page.” Tony emotionlessly replied, hiding the waves of pain he felt at the mere mention of Peter. 

“Also, I’m sorry for— for earlier.” She fumbled with her hands, nervously glancing at Matt then back to him.

“No, it’s fine.” Tony shrugged it off. 

“We want you to know that you have our full support.” Foggy grinned. 

Tony forced a small smile, before he took out two flash drives from his pocket, and handed them to Karen and Foggy. 

“You’ll find everything you need to know about the Maze on these. The rest shouldn’t be too difficult.” Tony said, intending to walk away from them. 

“Wait, that’s it?” Karen asked in confusion.

“Nah, that’s barely the start.” Matt winked at them. 

“Consider it done.” Foggy cheerily said. “God, I can’t wait to see the look on Fisk’s face when he finds out that we screwed up all his plans.” 

“Well, if you want to see it, you better go fire up the rest of the others.” Matt joked, encouragingly patting his back. 

“Nelson and Page on it.” He pretended to salute a soldier before Karen laughed at his silly gesture and they both left. 

“It’s uh, a nice team you got there.” Tony mentioned. 

“Thanks.” Matt smiled. “You don’t make an awful coworker yourself.” 

“Just admit it, Murdock. I’m the best you’ve ever had.” Tony lightly joked, raising his shoulders in a cocky manner.

“You always turn the conversation to your favor.” Matt shook his head, his dimples showing as he grinned. 

Tony spent more time with Matt, wandering around the place with him and observing Karen and Foggy’s progress. They talked to Danny and Jessica about their parts of the plan. Danny would be the one to watch out for them if things went sideways, which Tony had an unwanted feeling that it might, and Jessica would sneak into WCKD to steal them the berg they were supposed to transport the candidates with. With Tony’s access to the WCKD headquarters, he could safely sneak her in and out. According to him, Matt and MJ are supposed to move tomorrow when the Gladers head into the Maze. 

That was the part Tony dreaded the most. He trusted in their plan. It was simple and left no room for errors. MJ and Peter were to escort the others through the Maze, until they reached the exit. There, Jessica, Matt and him will be waiting with the berg to take the Gladers out and get them here. Danny would be waiting for them here to receive the young men.

“Tony.” Matt snapped his fingers in front of his face. He hadn’t realized that he had zoned out until Matt caught his attention.

“Were you saying something?” he asked, focusing back to him.

“No, but you kinda forgot that I can hear your heartbeats, and they have never beat as terrifyingly fast as they are right now, except when they took Peter away.” His words felt like a bucket of ice being poured down on his head.

He was right. Tony was terrified. He kept encouraging each and every one of them, telling them that their plan is good and it will work. But he was scared and in pain. He has been bottling up his feelings for so long, in order to make everything work with no complications, but it was starting to wear him out. 

“He’ll be fine, Tony.” Matt sadly smiled as they walked. 

Tony’s gaze was fixed on his feet and he didn’t pay attention to where he was going until Matt gently pulled him to the side. 

“You’re the blind one and I’m the one walking into walls now.” Tony bitterly joked. 

“This has to work.” They stopped, and Tony ran his hand over his face in exhaustion.

“It will.” Matt assured him. “You will get him back, Tony. I know you will.” 

“Let’s just hope Fisk doesn’t beat us to it.” Tony remarked, turning to walk towards the room Matt gave him earlier, with him following. 

“Before I forget,” he said, stepping into the room and rummaging through his bag. He pulled out a fully finished suit and threw it at Matt. 

“What’s that?” Matt frowned, feeling the deep red colored leather with his hands. 

“Well, your outfit sucks.” Tony shrugged. “And you’ll need this.” He placed a helmet into his hands. 

It was the same color as the suit, with room for two eyes in it. It was both a helmet and a mask as it extended for the whole back of the head. He watched as Matt moved his hands across them, trying to get a full image of the objects he was holding. 

“Tony,” he breathed in surprise. “That’s—“ He shrugged, not knowing what to say.

“Genius? Yeah, I know.” Tony teased.

“Are these?” His lips parted as his fingers traced the top of the mask, near the forehead. “Horns?” 

“Pretty much, yeah.” Tony sat on the bed, setting his black backpack aside. 

“I don’t know what to say.” Matt shook his head.

“It’s nothing of what I owe you anyway.” Tony shrugged. “Your mask is provided with an online communication system, the voice shouldn’t affect your  _ abnormal _ ,” he joked, “Sense of hearing.” 

“To say that I’m impressed would be an understatement.” Matt threw his full hands into the air. 

He pulled on the vibranium based mask over his head and waited for Tony’s reaction. “How do I look?” 

“I should have thought this through.” Tony bluffed, although it looked great. 

“You’re kidding.” he shoulders dropped. 

A second later, his face broke into a grin, “You’re  _ kidding _ .” he repeated, shaking his head, getting the joke that it did look great and it was just him messing around.

“I know that your identity cover was blown anyway, but—“ Matt cut him off. 

“You didn’t take part in this.” 

Tony sighed and glimpsed at the screenplay beside the bed, catching sight of the active Glade. Matt’s voice broke the silence. 

“You made him one, didn’t you?” He was quieter now, the previous humor not found in his voice. 

“It’s everything he would ever wish for.” Tony said, the image of the bright red and blue iron suit forming in his mind. “I can  _ hear  _ him bragging about it, Murdock.” 

He desperately looked at him, “I can see him everywhere I go.” 

_ And now that he got his memories back, he’s hurting, too. He’s blaming himself for what he thinks he has done.  _

But Tony didn’t voice out these words. He only sighed once more and buried his head in his hands. 

“We’ve come so far. We’re one step closer to ending it all.” Matt encouraged, patting Tony’s knee from where he sat.

“Thanks, Murdock.” Tony voiced. 

“I’ll leave you to rest, alright? I’ll be awake for a while if you need anything.” he said, standing up and making his way out the door. 

Two hours of tossing and turning in his bed passed. He was beyond exhausted; his eyes burned every time he closed them and yet sleep was something that seemed a far fetched idea for his busy mind. He tried to continue working on his own suit of armor, but he couldn’t bring himself to. What was it for? To prove to himself that he’s the hero he never was? And never will be? If he was, by any chance, close to that word, Peter would have still been here. He sat up on the edge of the bed and decided to leave the room for a little while. As he was getting up, he caught sight of the Glade. 

Peter was sitting alone by the fire. He was staring at it with his head hung low. Tony’s heart ached at the sight. “You’re not alone, kid.” He subconsciously whispered. He watched as he got up and walked to where MJ was staying. Tony couldn’t instantly get a visual of the inside of the hut, and he pondered over whether to do it or not. A few seconds wouldn’t hurt, right? He tapped different spots on the hovering screen until he got what he wanted, and he wished he didn’t. 

He stood puzzled for a few seconds before he understood what was happening. Before he  _ remembered _ . A low shaky breath left his chest as he watched them leaning forward to blow the single candle together, hugging afterwards. In that second, the door opened, revealing Matt who stood with two drinks in his hands. His face dropped when he sensed the atmosphere in the room, and Tony was pretty sure that at this point, Matt could clearly see how broken his face looked.

“We were raising a toast in honor of tomorrow, but, clearly, you’re not in a mood for it.” He uneasily smiled, setting the glasses down on the table at the corner of the room.

“No, I could actually use a drink right now.” Tony cleared his throat and aimed to take the glass across the room. He chugged it down before Matt could say anything.

“Were you planning to have one drink only?” Tony smugly asked. 

“No, but we can’t--” 

“There’s no such word, bud.” Tony smacked his chest on his way out of the door, planning to drink away his pain.

Matt was hot on his heels, grabbing him by the elbow. “Tony, I don’t think that this is a good idea.” 

“Then you shouldn’t have introduced it.” Tony carelessly replied, yanking away a bottle of liquor off the table that was surrounded by Matt’s team. He walked back to the room with the bottle in one hand and the glass in the other.

Matt was still following him with a look of disapproval on his face. Tony couldn’t care less at this point. He has given himself no time to mourn, no time to give into the feelings that mercilessly tore at his heart in silence. He wouldn’t have imagined that the absence of  _ one person  _ could affect him this deeply. But that was the thing, Peter wasn’t just someone. And having to spend his twenty-first birthday at a death trap wasn’t exactly what Tony had in mind for him. 

“Hand it over.” Matt calmly addressed, referring to the liquid-filled container. 

“No.” Tony stubbornly replied, proceeding to open it and pour himself a shot in the glass that was tightly grasped in his hand. 

“Tony.” he warned, as if it was the last warning. 

He didn’t listen and downed the liquid. The alcohol was strong, burning at his throat as it glided down and left a stinging sensation in his mouth. In the flash of a second, the bottle was forced out of his hand and thrown against the wall, shattering and hitting the floor, spilling its contents across it. 

Tony was infuriated. He could feel the heat rising in his face from how angry he was, and the alcohol only helped in the increase in his body temperature. He didn’t get the numbness he thought he would get if he drank the whole bottle. He didn’t get the chance to do anything he wanted at this moment.

“We haven’t worked this hard, and risked all of our lives only for you to ruin it in the blink of an eye.” Matt said, his tone full of disgust. “What happened to you?!” 

Tony’s grip was tightening around his cup. His knuckles turned white, and his hand started to shake the longer Matt talked.

“You’re  _ not  _ in this alone, Tony.” He raised a finger in a warning manner. “And I won’t stand by and watch you destroy everything we’ve worked for.” 

He stayed silent, refusing to answer. He didn’t know what to say. Nothing could excuse what he was doing right now, but there was no other way to escape the pain he has been enduring on his own. 

“Is this what Peter would want?” he quietly asked, and Tony lost it.

The glass burst in his hand, sharp shards flying everywhere while some stayed plunged into his skin. Tears burned at his eyes as everything came toppling down on him like a wall that had just been hit with a wrecking ball. His hand stung, blood oozing out of the small wounds that the glass created. 

“Tony--” Matt parted his lips in panic and shock. He was about to approach him but he stopped him, holding up his good hand. 

“Do you know what today is?” He sternly looked at him with his teary eyes. “It’s his fucking birthday.” 

“He should be here. He should be celebrating and partying all night, but instead he’s _ out there _ .” he whispered the last two words. 

“He is forced to win a fight that isn’t his.” A tear fell from his right eye and he wiped it away before it could slide down his cheek. “Everything he’s going through, everything he will face out there is  _ my  _ doing.” He pointed at the streaming behind him without turning to look at it. 

“He’s just a kid.” His bottom lip quivered and he bit it, trying to stop the urge to cry. His heart was heavy as he said those words, feeling every ounce of pain that struck him one after the other.

“You have to believe in him, Tony.” Matt softly said, stepping closer to where he was standing. Tony hadn’t noticed that droplets of blood were dripping from his hand onto the floor tiles. 

“Peter is a good kid.” He noted. “You haven’t seen him in action like I did. He can do things that you and I can’t ever imagine doing.” He placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“And none of this is completely on you. I told you, you’re not in this alone.” 

Tony looked at him, trying to let his words sink in. Although he knew Matt was right about Peter, he still had an unsettling feeling about the whole idea. He felt that something bad was going to happen, but he chose to ignore it for the moment. It’s all going to work out. 

“Come on, let’s get that cleaned up.” Matt nodded at his injured hand.

Tony complied, following Matt, but on their way out, his phone buzzed in his pocket, as if an alarm was going off. He frowned, pulling it out and taking a look at it. 

“What is it?” Matt asked, concern filling his voice.

“It’s from the department back at WCKD.” 

“That’s odd.” Matt’s eyebrows furrowed. “What does it say?” 

“Nothing, it just constantly says ‘SECURITY BREACH’.” 


	23. Chapter 23

The sun shone down on them, heating up their already sweating bodies. Unlike the usual, the Glade was quiet. Everyone was busy comprehending what they were about to do. The people around him have built a life here, and waking up one day to others telling you that you have to leave now or die, wasn’t supposed to be welcomed as good news. And so, not everyone listened to Newt; there was no sign of Gally or his 5-10 shadows. Peter didn’t know whether he should be thankful that he didn’t have to deal with him or be worried about the fact that he actually wanted to stay here. 

Newt and Minho were distributing weapons all around, providing every Glader with what he could need to defend himself. Peter was adjusting his fingerless gloves over his hands, making sure they don’t get in the way of his web shooters. His body was buzzing with adrenaline mixed with nervousness, but he focused more on the fuelling feeling. MJ stood a foot away, putting on her archery glove. He watched as she filled the quiver with arrows, double checking that their heads were sharp. She strapped it behind her back and held the weapon in her hand, confidently looking around until her eyes landed on him. 

“What are you looking at?” she smirked. 

“You.” Peter shrugged, a smile shaping his lips.

“You still can’t get the fact that I can kick your ass through your head, can you?” she smugly asked. 

“Well,” he laughed. “I can’t get all of that,” he pointed at the crossbow and her. “Through my head.” 

“That’s too bad.” She faked a grimace, smiling afterwards. 

Silence fell on them, filling the air as Peter looked down at his feet, feeling the urge to say something he has been pondering over whether to say it or not. 

He looked up, “MJ—“

“Peter—“ 

They both spoke at the same time, cutting each other off. “It’s okay.” she said, motioning for him to speak. 

“If anything happens out there—“ 

MJ silenced him by holding both of his hands in hers. “Nothing is going to happen.” 

“We planned for this. You know every step we will make and you have everyone on your side. And you’ve got me.” She smiled, raising her eyebrows at him. Something about how she said those words sent warmth into his heart. Peter noticed something different in her eyes, something he has seen last night and was seeing now again. It was like she wanted to say more, but she decided not to. 

He shrugged it off, and chose not to put too much thought into it. It’s MJ; if she wanted to say something, she would say it right away.

“I don’t know what I would have done without you.” Peter admitted, chuckling to himself.

“Duh, you’d die.” She rolled her eyes, lightly laughing. 

Peter tugged on her hands, pulling her towards him, aiming for a hug, but MJ resisted. 

“What are you doing?” She eyed him. 

“I was going for a hug?” Peter asked, feeling confused  _ and  _ embarrassed.

“No.” She shook her head and withdrew her hands from his. “No.” she repeated.

“What?” he breathed, hiding his obvious awkwardness with a fake smile.

“This feels like a ‘goodbye’ hug. I don’t like it.” She avoided his gaze as she spoke, sparking the curiosity in him.

He was about to answer, but Newt and Minho joined them, interrupting their conversation. She quietly excused herself, and Peter followed her with her eyes until she disappeared into the room where they stored the weapons. 

“They’re all ready.” Newt said, exchanging a look with Minho who confirmed his words by nodding.

“Is that everyone?” Peter asked, looking at the huddle of guys over Newt’s shoulder.

“Until now, yeah.” He squinted at Peter, his pale skin already looking pinkish from the sunlight. 

“Still no sign of Gally? Or the others?” 

“No.” Newt sighed.

“Why do you care  _ so _ much?” Minho asked.

“They’re going to  _ die _ .” Peter pushed, looking at both of them. 

“We did what we could.” Newt replied. “And you need to stop thinking of them as your responsibility. It’s Gally, for fuck’s sake.” he said in disbelief, probably having a hard time trying to understand why he would want to save someone who has treated him like shit since the moment he saw him. 

“What about Flash?” he remembered, an image of the short black-haired guy forming in his mind. 

“No clue.” Minho popped in, shrugging his broad shoulders. 

They were both heavily armed, dressed in their Gladers clothes that matched Peter’s. Minho had his usual daggers stacked behind his back, and Newt held some sort of a sword but a lot dirtier, heavier, and older than an actual sword. 

“I guess that’s it, then?” Peter blew out a breath, resting his hands on his hips. He was still uncomfortable with the idea of leaving anyone behind, but Newt and Ned were right. He can’t save everyone; especially if they don’t want to be saved.

A few minutes later, the three of them were standing ahead of the Galders, eyes fixed on their faces. They were scattered in three large groups, which caught Peter’s attention.

“We have to divide them among us.” he noted, looking at the large number of people standing in front of them. 

“That’s actually a good idea.” Newt agreed.

“We can’t run and leave everyone behind.” Peter explained. “Minho, you take the left side. Newt, Ned’s with you and the right side. I’ll take the ones in the middle. MJ’s with me.” He nodded towards Ned and MJ who stood not too far from them now. 

“Newt?” Minho called, as if he was urging him to do something. 

“Yeah, alright.” Newt nodded, clearing his throat. He stepped forward, attracting the attention of the crowd. 

“Gladers,” he called out, his voice loud and clear. “I know you’re all scared.” he started.

“And that’s okay. Let your fear push you out there! It’s what will keep you going!” he encouragingly shouted, pointing at the vast space behind them. 

“Because the second you step out there, you’ll be running for your life!” Peter watched as the faces of the Gladers changed into ones of will instead of fear. 

“No one can protect you. You’ve got me, Minho, and Peter, but we can’t save you. You’ll have to watch out for yourselves!” Newt continued, pacing in front of his listeners.

“You’ll be divided into three groups. Minho and Peter’s words are to be listened to. You follow their orders just like you would follow mine.” He went back to stand next to Peter and Minho, shouting out his last words. 

“ _ Have I made myself clear!? _ ” 

They were met with howls of ‘yeah!’ and other incoherent words that reached Peter’s ears as they raised their fairly lethal weapons in the air. 

“Now they’re ready.” Newt winked, earning a smile from Peter. 

Nerves started to kick in again when each one of them stood with their group behind them, their faces directed towards the entrance of the Maze. MJ and Peter looked at each other, both of them seeking reassurance from one another. His eyes then darted to Newt and Ned on his right. Newt nodded at him in confirmation, gripping his own blade tightly in his hand. Minho did the same, silently telling Peter that they’ve got this. They can do it. 

Peter looked ahead, his eyes lingering on the dark passage that waited for them. The light breeze that came from there blew at them, sending chills down Peter’s spine. With one last exhale, he put his faith into their plan, allowing himself to listen to MJ’s words. 

Nothing is going to happen. 

“Having second thoughts?” she lightly joked.

“Maybe?” Peter grinned back.

“I bet you’re just scared that I’d be faster than you in there.” she raised an eyebrow as she fastened the strap that held a knife to her ankle. 

“Terrified.” he mocked. 

Peter and MJ’s group was the first to enter the Maze, with both of them at the very front. Newt and Ned followed, and Minho’s group was the last one behind. They started marching their way in there, the place becoming darker with every step they took. Peter glanced behind him at the now far ray of light that shone from the Glade, huffing in anticipation as he fixed his eyes back ahead of him. The sounds of their footsteps echoed among the huge walls of the Maze, hushed whispers reaching Peter’s senses as they wandered around. 

He knew where they were going, and what they were going to face, but he worried if he was going to be able to take them all out without having to lose anyone. Peter led them further into the Maze, still having faced no trouble, until the first sound of a Griever stopped them in their tracks. Peter turned to the horrified-looking guys behind him and placed his hand over his mouth, telling them to stay silent. Some of them nodded, panic already radiating off of their eyes. The same shrilling scream occurred, stirring fear inside him. 

Peter knew that even him had no chance against such a creature. It could kill him in one second, and so the first thing that came to his mind was seeing where it was from and misleading it. It was the best idea he had. Just like he did it before. 

“Wait here.” Peter whispered to MJ, already making his way to the wall on their left. 

He heard her whisper-yell his name after him but he ignored. He was aware of how high it was, but it wasn’t too high for Spider-Man. He stood at a short distance from the stone surface, shifting from one foot to another before he stretched out his arms towards the wall and two webs came flying out of his web shooters. They successfully stuck to it as Peter gripped them with his hands and pulled back, stretching the sticky substance as far as he could, before he let himself go, the webs sending him high enough to reach its top. 

Peter easily landed on his feet, dropping down to one knee as his eyes skimmed the pathways. Not only did he see the Griever that was close to them, he saw another two that lurked in the distance, waiting for them. He knew that this wasn’t all of them, but he could hold them off for now. Peter had faith in the strength of his web fluid and hoped they would last against the monsters long enough for them to escape this part of the Maze. They wouldn’t be able to get past what the Gladers would encounter next anyway. He shot a series of webs at each one of them, sticking their limbs to the walls, trapping them in their place. 

The Grievers screeched and resisted, but it was in vain. He shot more webs, in order to make himself feel more certain that they’re not getting out any time soon. He jumped down from the wall, successfully landing. 

“I held them off, but we better hurry.” Peter breathed, looking at MJ. His eyes travelled to his other friends who nodded at his words. 

The Maze was so huge that it fit all of them standing as a group, containing them. As time went by, they picked up their pace. It first started with a jog, until they faced the first trial, which was spikes that emerged out of the walls on either side of them. 

“Duck down!” Peter yelled, doing as he said and subconsciously pulling MJ’s hand down with him. 

Peter came to a halt when they reached an empty space in the Maze, holding up his hand to stop them. He knew this. He caught sight of someone moving from the corner of his eye and his head immediately snapped in their direction. 

“Ned, no!” Peter shouted, as Ned stepped onto a stone tile that he wasn’t supposed to stand on, releasing a dagger that flew in his direction, an opening that was hidden in a wall not too far from him. 

He shot a web at the weapon and tossed it away from him and into the open distance. Ned sighed in relief, an expression of fear written all over his features. “Stay close.” Peter carefully warned. “Don’t make any sudden movements. Wait for me first.” He then looked at all of them, making sure they all listened so no one else could get hurt. 

Suddenly, the walls around them started to violently shake, sending vibrations of fear and adrenaline to Peter’s body. Rubble started falling down from above them, different sizes of stones hitting them on their way to the ground. 

“Run!” Peter ushered, pushing them forward as they started complying, running as fast as they could. He raised an arm to cover his head that has been hit a few times, saving it from any further damage. MJ was doing the same, pushing the Gladers to run. As the group was coming to an end, they, too, started running away from the rumbling walls. Dust filled the air, stinging at their eyes as they ran. Peter managed to out run the Gladers by using his webs to cut his distance short, until they reached the place where they would have to face their last trial before reaching the exit. 

He remembered him and Tony deciding that the last pathway to it should be vacant; free of any more nerve-wracking tests. He took a glance at MJ who was catching her breath. She shot him a reassuring look, before she turned to checking on the others. A streak of blood was seen on her left eyebrow, and small cuts on her arms could be seen through the yellowish-white shirt she was wearing. 

“Is it over?” Minho breathed, as he wiped at his sweaty forehead that was now smudged with dirt and dry blood. Peter was sure his head was bleeding, too, but he couldn’t feel any pain at this moment. 

They have been standing there for a few minutes, catching their breaths, before the Grievers’ sounds rang through the Maze again. 

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Minho whined. “Tell me that exit is closer than I think.” 

Peter didn’t have a chance to answer, because he was cut off by another scream, this time not close to them, but right behind the huddle of boys who were with Peter. 

“Holy shit.” He heard Newt gasp at the sight of the monster, before his feet scrambled, running away from it with his group ahead of him.

“Go. Right now!” Peter forcefully pushed them in the opposite direction of the Griever as it started to approach him. 

“Peter!” MJ warned, fear evident in her eyes as the last of their group were fleeing. 

“I can hold it off.” he assured her. “GO!” 

She listened, hesitantly heading into the hallway that the others have just left through. He had to be quick in order to be with the others and not let them go through the last trial alone. But they also needed enough time to get as far away as they could from this Griever. The monster roared in Peter’s face, startling him out of his thoughts. It raised one of its metal arachnid legs to strike him but Peter was quick to dodge it, running to the side. He shot a web at one of its legs, pulling it towards him. The creature lost its balance and fell, giving him the chance to web its legs where it laid. 

He was so busy making sure all of its limbs were stuck to the ground that he didn’t notice the three-clawed metallic tail that came down, finding his right shoulder. A guttural scream left his throat as he felt the metal grazing past his skin. Peter struggled to free himself of the creature that clung to him; he couldn’t move his right arm. He couldn’t feel his whole right side as he tried to break free. He raised his other arm, webbed the claw and tried to yank it away. Breaking free of its hold was more painful than when it hit him. The creature screamed and slithered its tail, wanting nothing but to stick harder, until Peter finally managed to pull it off of him and webbed it to the wall. 

He fell onto his knees at the impact. He was panting as he rested both of his hands on the ground. His right arm was shaking, drops of blood colliding with the dusty stone earth beneath him. He looked down at himself, and found his light blue shirt drenched in a darker color where he was hurt, almost looking black. He had to get back to the others. He stood up, tuning out the shrieks of the helpless, defeated Griever. He raised his left hand to his shoulder where he released webs at it to stop the bleeding. He didn’t want this injury to slow him down, but it was hard when it hurt with every move he made. 

Peter rushed to where he saw his friends go with the others. They were running out of time, and they had to reach that exit before more Grievers came attacking them.

“Oh my god.” MJ gasped once she saw him. Her eyes horrifyingly looked at his state, filling with tears. Her arms instantly flew around him, holding him tight but careful not to hurt him. 

“It’s okay, it will heal.” Peter forced a smile, hoping he’d delivered any sense of security.

“Were you trying to pull off a superhero act, Peter?” Minho teased. 

“What are you talking about? I already  _ am  _ one.” He grinned, despite the pain he felt in his shoulder. 

“Come on you two.” Newt chuckled, “we better leave before anything else comes at us.” 

“Newt’s right.” Peter agreed. 

“I’m fine.” He looked at her once again, confirming before they took off. 

Minutes later, the first stages of the last trial began. It was the hardest of them, and Peter was actually nervous, because he didn’t know if he could get everyone through it. This was the one last step away from their freedom. One last test. 

The ground started to vibrate below them. They stopped, everyone looking at Peter. 

“Everyone stay calm.” he addressed them, eyeing Newt and Minho. “When I say run, don’t think about stopping as an option.” The vibrations grew beneath their feet, slightly shaking them. It was like there was a volcano that was waiting to erupt, its lava wanting to break through the earth.

“Peter?” Ned nervously called out, second-guessing why they were not running now. But little did he know that if they started running, they wouldn’t reach anything. His eyes stayed fixed on the ground, following the dust and dry leaves that bounced off it. 

It was when Peter heard the first crack. “ _ Run! _ ” 

They all broke into a sprint, none of them daring to look back. None except Peter. He looked over his shoulder and saw the cracks growing and spreading through the Maze and towards them. 

“Don’t look back! Keep running!!” he yelled again, his lungs burning from how fast he was running. 

MJ was right next to him, sprinting for her life. The Gladers were doing their best, but some of them struggled to keep up, and some of them tripped. Peter was hot on their heels, helping each of them to get up and carry on running. His web shooters started flashing a red light, indicating that he was almost out of web fluid. As they kept running, Peter saw the Maze almost splitting into two from how wide the gaps were starting to look like. His fear grew when he fortunately missed a crack by taking a leap. 

His muscles ached at the effort, screaming for him to stop. His throat was dry, along with his nostrils that failed to inhale the amount of oxygen he needed. His shoulder wasn’t getting any better, and Peter worried for a second that it might leave a scar, but the thought left his mind as quick as it came when he felt that the movement stopped. 

“Wait!” Peter called out, holding up both of his hands in a steadying gesture.

“Please, tell me now it’s over.” Minho begged, resting his hands on his knees as he gasped for air. 

Peter listened carefully, straining his ears to catch any cracking sounds, but he found none. It was silent. No more tumbling walls, no more hidden traps, no more cracking grounds. It was over. 

“It is.” Peter breathed, a grin slowly making its way to his lips.

Newt laughed in relief, hugging Ned in the process. Peter saw most of the Gladers drop down to the ground, in need for a rest. Peter looked around him, taking in the sight. They made it. They made it through the first part of their plan. He exchanged a look with MJ, victorious smiles etched onto their mouths. 

“Let’s get the fuck out of here.” Newt uttered, after he’d calmed down. 

Even after getting past the one-time trials, they still needed to get out, because more Grievers were still wandering around the Maze looking for more victims, and Peter didn’t want to encounter them again. 

He took his step, and now it was Tony’s turn.

“So where is it?” Minho asked, him and Newt approaching. “The way out.” 

“It’s right--” Peter glanced to the side, pointing at the far end of the last path they would have to walk, but something was wrong. 

“Here.” he breathed, taking shaky steps towards what he’s deeply hoping not to be true. He was just seeing things, he had to be. 

“It’s supposed to be here.” Peter repeated himself. 


	24. Chapter 24

“What do you mean it’s  _ supposed  _ to be here?” Newt eyed him, his expression changing into a worried one mixed with anger.

“But you said you knew the way.” Minho frowned, his voice laced with confusion.

Peter stared at the plain gray wall in front of them, his mind racing with thoughts.  _ It was right here.  _ He went over every turn they took, every test, every  _ step _ . He blinked, trying to remember where he went wrong;  _ if  _ he went wrong. He was sure about this. Panic was starting to rise inside him, his chest slowly yet painfully getting tighter. 

They were supposed to before their exit, but instead, they were faced with a dead end. Another wall. 

“There must be a mistake, I mean—“ Ned defended, but Newt cut him off.

“Yes, there is.” he stated. “And because of this mistake, we’re all standing here waiting for our death.” He turned his back to Peter, disappointment filling his voice. 

“No. No, that’s not true.” Peter refused to give in. It couldn’t be. Something must have happened. He knew this Maze like the back of his hand.

“What are you still fighting for?” he bitterly chuckled. “You’ve had your chance and you blew it, Peter.” He raised his arms in defeat, looking around them and glancing at the people sitting here and there, lining up the walls that surrounded them.

His heart was hammering in his ribcage, the pressure making him feel like it was going to explode.

“I can’t fucking believe you.” Minho uttered, looking at him with disgust and disbelief.

This was worse than them getting angry at him, or fighting him. This hurt more.

He felt a hand on his good shoulder and his eyes connected with MJ. She looked just as confused as he was, but she held a reassuring gaze.

“I swear it was here.” Peter said, but he wasn’t sure if his words were audible enough for them to hear. She squeezed his shoulder, letting him know that she believes him. 

Ned apologetically looked at him, his eyes glistening with tears. Peter knew he wanted to say so many things, that he believed him, but he knew that Ned knew better. 

“Where are we supposed to go now?” one of the Gladers asked, breaking the unbearable silence. 

“Are we going to die?”

“This is it?” 

“Can we even go back to the Glade?” 

The questions got louder and louder, turning into a huge fuss around Peter, MJ, Ned, Newt and Minho. 

“We shouldn’t have listened to you!” one of them shouted, pointing at them.

“Newt, you have to believe me.” Peter tried one more time, turning to him.

“You don’t get it, do you?” Newt asked over the noise. “Even if I do,” he shrugged, pointing at the hectic herd of boys. 

Peter’s shoulders slumped, guilt washing over him. His eyes desperately searched for any way out. Maybe it was just a foot farther than he thought, but he found nothing. No logical explanations made it to his mind. There was nothing about this that made sense. One thought dared to force itself onto Peter, and he unintentionally shuddered. 

Tony wouldn’t leave him in the middle of this, right? He would never. Anxiety tied his stomach in knots at the thought of something happening to Tony, and that’s why they were still here. He briefly shook his head, shrugging off the horrible image. He was already facing another one. Peter was so focused on his own thoughts that he didn’t notice the sudden silence that overtook the crowd with them. He raised his head to see why they decided to go quiet all of a sudden. 

“How on Earth…” Minho breathed from beside Newt, his eyes wide. 

“Guess your little trip didn’t go  _ that  _ well, did it?” 

—

Alarms started going off in Tony's mind as he stared at the flashing screen of his phone. Matt stood with a facial expression that matched his, forehead deeply creased, eyes filled with confusion and panic. 

“Um, guys?” Foggy Nelson’s voice broke the eerie silence, attracting their attention. “I think you would want to see this.” he yelled from where he was outside. 

Tony immediately pushed past Matt and rushed over to where Foggy was seated behind his computer screen. His eyes found the digital map of the Maze he gave to him, along with the moving dots that are supposed to be the kids. Tony saw that they were moving perfectly fine, following the way Peter knew. Matt came following after Tony, standing next to him. 

“They’re going in the right direction.” he impatiently said, his head doing him no favor by thinking of all the bad scenarios that could happen. 

“I don’t mean to be rude, but—“ Foggy paused, nervously glancing at both of them before he said his next words. “Are they supposed to be walking towards a dead end?” 

“What do you mean a dead end?” Tony hissed. “Move.” he demanded, taking control of the device in front of him, totally forgetting about his constantly buzzing phone. 

He went through the map, making sure that they were displaying the right path. 

“This doesn’t make sense.” He frowned. 

“Tony, your phone.” Matt reminded him. 

He unlocked it, stopping the alarm that was already getting on his nerves. Tony’s heart stopped at what he saw. 

“What’s wrong?” Matt must have picked up his fright, because he hasn’t said anything  _ yet _ .

His eyes repeatedly scanned over his phone screen, trying to convince himself that this was a mistake, that he didn’t just get a warning that his system was hacked. 

“The route to the exit has been changed.” he said, his hand falling loose by his side.

“Fisk.” Foggy jumped in the conversation. 

“How did that happen?” Matt wondered out loud. 

Tony’s aggravation grew, his blood boiling in his veins. “Of course he manipulated yet another person into doing what he wants and then got rid of them.” 

“I’m going to make him get a taste of his own medicine.” Tony said, his fists clenched tight. 

“Right.” Matt nodded, sensing Tony’s anger. “That’s why we need to focus on those kids out there first, instead of letting Fisk get to us.” He knew his words were mainly directed at Tony, because right now, he wanted nothing but to choke Fisk to death. 

“We need to get them out of there in the quickest way possible.” Foggy said, looking back and forth between them. In a second, he went back to his work, calling out for the rest of his colleagues.

Tony’s mind spun with thoughts from how hard he was trying not to panic. But it was hard not to, when every time you felt like you were one step away from succeeding, everything came tumbling down on you, burying you under the weights of your failure. 

His head then went to the Grievers that filled the Maze and his blood ran cold. They were going to be stuck in there, unless they acted  _ right now _ . Tony ran into the room, firing up his AI system in no time. He heard Matt yelling out commands to the others as everyone started running to around, the place turning into a panic room. 

He was afraid that they might not have enough time to proceed with their plan, but this was his last hope. It had to work. He won’t rest until they’re all out of that place. Until Peter is here with him.

—

“Gally?!” Newt voiced, the name coming out like he has just seen a ghost. Peter couldn’t blame him, because that was the last thing he would have ever imagined. 

Gally stood tall, toying with a knife in his hands. His eyes were bloodshot, and his face was stained with streaks of dry tears. 

“What? You thought  _ he  _ was the only one who could get through the Maze?” he asked with disgust, pointing at Peter with the knife in his hand. 

“What do you want?” Minho cautiously asked. 

“Since when do you care what  _ I  _ want, Minho?” he snapped. “When did you ever?” His eyes travelled to Newt as he asked that question. 

Peter felt a sudden empathy for the guy that stood before them, threatening to break down at any second. He looked in pain, and he was trying to cover it with the rage that radiated off of him. Peter put an arm over MJ who stood next to him, lightly pushing her behind as he stepped forward. 

“Gally, I understand how you might be feeling now. But, it’s not too late.” He slowly approached him, his hands free and stretched by his sides, showing him that he means no harm. 

“Don’t come any closer.” He gritted his teeth, holding the knife up in a defensive manner. 

“Alright, alright.” Peter raised his hands in surrender. He was now standing halfway between him and his friends behind.

“ _ You _ don’t understand anything.” He gripped his weapon tightly in his hand that was slightly shaking as he kept gesturing with it. “You took everything from me. From us.” He looked around him at the fallen Gladers.

“Look what you’ve gotten yourselves into by listening to  _ him _ !!” he screamed in anger, tears rolling down from his icy blue eyes. 

“But this all ends now. This is as far as you go.” He shook his head, another tear falling down his cheek. 

Peter quickly pressed the button in his web shooters to unarm Gally before he does anything to harm himself or any of them. 

“Looks like you’re out of tricks,  _ freak _ .” he mocked as Peter tried pressing his web shooters again, but nothing came out. 

He ran out of web fluid.

Before he knew it, Gally launched himself forward onto Peter, but they never collided. The blade didn’t touch his skin. 

—

“Where are they now?” Matt asked as he held his mask in his hand. 

Tony took a look at his full appearance, and mentally gave himself a pat on the back for what he did with Matt’s suit. It looked  _ perfect _ . He then checked the moving individuals again, answering Matt’s question. 

“They’re almost there. We better hurry.” Tony rushed, strapping on his bracelet. It was the means of transforming him into the iron suit. 

Then Tony noticed something unusual. “Why are these two left out?” he asked out loud, his question more to himself than to Matt. There were two dots trailing behind the rest of the Gladers, leaving quite a long distance between them. The two dots were also apart, possibly meaning that they weren’t together. 

Maybe they were struggling to keep up with the others. 

“Stark.” Tony turned to look at the source of the voice and he found Jessica Jones approaching him and Matt. 

“You better go.” she addressed them both. 

Tony knew they couldn’t leave now, even if they wanted to. They were still waiting for Foggy and Karen to decode the security systems to the bergs at WCKD. It was the only thing out of Tony’s reach, and the safest way to get to these bergs was definitely not by breaking in. They wouldn’t have a chance to even step into it without having Fisk’s men taking them down. 

“Foggy and Karen are still working on the codes, we can’t—“ 

“Oh, screw them and the codes.” she whined. “That asshole’s out there thinking he’s winning, and your kid needs you more than anything right now.” 

Tony was left speechless after what she said. She was the last person to cross his mind when it came to words of affection. He instantly realized that Matt at some point got to her, and he was glad he did. 

“Fisk knows that you’re up to something anyway, better prove to him that we are.” she confidently said, taking her hands out of her pockets. “Go. I got this.” She pushed them both the other way. 

They thanked her, before Matt put on his mask and headed with Tony out of their safe haven. 

“We’ll be right after you!” she yelled after them as they departed.

The last thing Tony saw at the Maze, was them reaching the end. He took every step with his hand over his heart, scared of what might happen. Unlike Matt, who wasn’t showing any signs of uncertainty. 

“You do realize that I can’t parkour all my way to the Maze, right?” Matt joked from beside him, earning a low chuckle from Tony. 

“Unfortunately, I do.” He stopped in his tracks and wrapped his hand around his bracelet, forcing it tighter around his wrist. The gadget complied, adjusting itself and changing into the whole body armor. 

It only took a few seconds for it to engulf his body, the mask coming down onto his face as the last part. Tony took a deep breath, letting his eyes get used to the vision from inside the suit. 

“God, I love technology.” He moved his hands, stretching out his arms and checking how they look. “Alright, let’s go, Daredevil. We’ve got some kids to save.” 

“ _ Daredevil _ ?” Matt asked in surprise. 

“Don’t even ask.” Tony shook his head. 

“I will  _ never _ .” He grinned, his teeth showing. “I like the ring it has to it though. Goes well with the horns.” He pointed at the corners of his mask. 

“But you’re not gonna like this.” Tony said as he picked Matt up by the hands and took off, breaking through the wind. 

“Friday? You with me?” Tony asked, addressing his suit AI system.

_ “Yes, Tony, I’m right with you.”  _ the  woman voiced through his ears. 

“How long will it take us until we reach the Maze?” 

_ “Approximately ten minutes.”  _ Different digital roads started to extend in front of Tony, giving him more than one option. 

“Get us through the shortest one.” 

—

Peter was no longer standing in front of Gally. Instead, there was an arrow that was pushed halfway through his chest as he stumbled back, his face red and eyes teary. He looked down at himself in fright, before he was hit by something on the back of his head and fell to the ground, his body lying still. A horrified looking Flash was standing with a brick in his hand that he immediately threw away when his eyes met Peter. 

“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” he repeated, his whole body shaking, as he tried not to sob, his eyes flickering between them.

Peter’s gaze then fell on MJ who had jumped out of nowhere in between them and shot Gally. Her back was still to him, and Peter was having a hard time processing what happened. Gally was going to kill him but MJ stopped him; along with  _ Flash?  _

“MJ?” Peter breathed, stepping closer to reach for her shoulder. Her hand shakily fell to her side, dropping her crossbow. Peter thought of how she must be feeling right now and wanted to comfort her. 

As soon as he reached her, her body limply collapsed into his, turning around in the process. Peter’s eyes widened at what he saw, a lump forming in his throat. He heard gasps coming from Newt, Ned, and Minho who were still standing at a distance. He gulped hard as his eyes stared at the blade that was plunged in her chest, near her left shoulder. Her white shirt was now soaked with crimson red that spread more by the second. Peter held her carefully, dropping to his knees and taking her down with him. She was panting in horror, her eyes glistening with tears as her hands crumpled his shirt in them. 

Peter’s lips were parted in utter shock and pain, his vision constantly blurring with warm tears. 

“Hey, hey.” he managed to whisper, diverting her attention from the sight. Her eyes softened when she looked at him, and he realized that he eased her fear. She was lying in his arms, head rested on his right and the other was holding hers tight. 

Her body was squirming in pain, and Peter almost sobbed, not knowing what to do. He didn’t have any web fluid left to web her wound and stop the bleeding. His superpowers didn’t include one that could take her pain away. He couldn’t even be attentive enough to watch out for her. 

“I’m sorry.” Peter sobbed, looking down at her. 

She repeatedly shook her head, trying to form a smile. “Why did you do that?” 

“He was— he was going t-to hurt y-you.” A tear fell down the corner of her eye as she struggled to speak. 

Peter knew he needed to get the knife out and stop the bleeding, but he didn’t know if he could do it. As if he heard his thoughts, Ned came rushing to them, crouching down opposite to him on MJ’s other side. 

He apologetically looked at him, “I need you to hold her still.” 

Peter squeezed her hand and tilted her head to the side so she would be looking away while Ned did what he had to do. MJ unwillingly screamed in pain as soon as the blade was out, letting out heaved breaths afterwards. 

“I’m sorry!” Ned panicked, taking out a clean cloth from the bag he has been carrying around the whole time. 

“Hold this with pressure.” Ned instructed Peter, tugging on his hand. 

“That’s it?” Peter asked, thinking that Ned had any more solutions.

“That’s all we can do for now.” He looked nervously at him. “I’m sorry, Peter.” 

Peter blinked down at his best friend who looked in so much pain. He pulled his hand out of hers, but she shook her head, silently pleading him not to let go. He adjusted her head so that it was now resting in his lap. He held the fabric tight to her chest with one hand and held her hand with the other, just like she asked. 

“Should have gone for that— for that hug, sh-shouldn’t I?” She looked up at him, a ghost of a smile tinting her pained expression. But Peter could vividly see the regret in her eyes. 

“No.” Peter sniffed, grinning down at her. “You’ll be okay and we’ll have as much hugs as you want.” He gently caressed her hand with his thumb. 

Her face was getting sweatier as time passed, and she seemed to shiver every now and then. Peter held her close to him, hoping he could keep her warm. His heart dropped every time her eyes would take longer to open when she blinked, and he was fighting so hard to look strong and composed for her. As they sat there, memories of them came swarming into his mind. 

_ “How does it look?” Peter nervously asked, already uncomfortable with the pair of glasses he was forced to wear, because his eyesight was deteriorating.  _

_ “It looks good.” MJ drew her lips in a thin line, obviously trying to hide a laugh.  _

_ He took them off and threw them onto the table between them, and MJ let her stifled laugh echo through the quiet room. He was told that he could get rid of them later, as his sight might improve with age.  _

_ “I hate you.” He scowled, but it didn’t last long as he started laughing with her. _

_ “No you don’t.” She challenged, wearing a proud smile as she leaned forward, resting her hands on her cheeks. _

_ “You may never know.” Peter shrugged, copying her position. _

_ — _

_ “What’s this?” MJ frowned, examining the necklace in her hand. _

_ “You said you weren’t feeling well, so I uhm, I thought I’d-- I can return it if you don’t like it.” He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. _

_ “Peter,” she chuckled. “I love it.”  _

_ “You do?”  _

_ “Yes.” She smiled, closing the distance between them and planting a kiss on his cheek.  _

_ Peter gazed at her, his eyes daring to flicker between her hazel brown eyes and her lips. Before he could make any move, she stepped back and went into her room, leaving him to his thoughts.  _

Then he remembered the conversation they had last night.

_ “Peter, I didn’t like not having you around.” Her head turned to look at him from where they laid next to each other. “It felt, it felt--” _

_ “Empty.” He finished.  _

_ “Yeah.” She whispered, her eyes roaming his face. _

_ “You won’t feel that again. I promise.” He smiled. Their hands brushed together as they stared at each other, before Peter awkwardly rested his hand on his belly, ignoring the tingling feeling he felt in there. _

“Peter.” MJ’s voice pulled him out of his trance. 

“I’m right here.” He ensured, bringing their hands closer to him. 

He hated the feeling that took place in his heart once MJ’s lips started to get dry, and her face became paler every minute. He refused to give in to the thought of losing her. He can’t. She can’t die on him. Not after he had just gotten her back. 

“There’s— there’s something,” she swallowed. “I n-need to t-tell you.” She desperately looked at him. 

“Shh,” Peter soothed, “try not to talk much.” His throat grew tight when he felt the cloth Ned gave him earlier getting damp from how much blood had seeped through it. 

She refused to listen, and went on talking anyway. 

“Listen to me, you, d-dumbass.” She begged with a smile that instantly turned to a grimace, and Peter’s eyes burned with tears. 

“I know what you’re going to say.” Peter admitted, letting the mixed feelings he has been getting the past few days settle in and turn into something more familiar, more  _ warm _ . 

“And no,” he hiccuped, tears that he was trying so hard to hold back, falling down his dry cheeks. “No, you’re not going to do it now.” He shook his head in refusal.

“I love y-you.” MJ smiled and Peter’s heart shattered. “I— I love you, Peter Parker.” She breathed, her glossy eyes softly staring into his blurry ones.

Before he got a chance to say it back, MJ’s grip around his hand loosened, and her eyes fell shut, releasing the tears that have been building up in them. 

“No.” he uttered, blinking away his tears so he could see clearer. His blood ran cold at the sight. “MJ...” He withdrew his hand that was holding her down, and cupped her cheek, trying to wake her. His hand stained her pale face with blood, but he didn’t care.

At this moment, he felt like everything was falling apart. He was left in the middle of a road that he didn’t know, and no one was by his side to guide him. Ned, Minho and Newt were standing close, watching with fright. 

_ What is taking them so long!? _

Peter’s inner self screamed in anger and pain, hopelessly waiting for his last chance out of this misery. 


	25. Chapter 25

As if things couldn’t get any worse, he heard the sound of metal clinking and scratching against rough stone followed by inhumane screams. The Gladers around him stood up in horror, whimpers and screams leaving their mouths.

“Peter?” Ned called out, as if Peter could do anything to help them. 

Newt and Minho took wary steps back, approaching him and Ned. He dared to look over his shoulder to see what was happening, even though he had a feeling that he already knew what he was going to see. Three Grievers made their way into the vast space they were trapped in, forming a semi circle. Peter looked around him in defeat, taking in his failure. All the people he tried to save were now going to die because of him, and MJ decided to be the first one to leave. 

He didn’t get a chance to say it back. He couldn’t tell her that he loved her first. He wasted every chance he had, thinking that he would have more time to tell her. He didn’t have a chance to tell her about the nights he stayed awake wondering if his feelings were in the right place; that he was too foolish to have not realized how much he loved her until it was too late. 

Peter no longer cared about the chaos he was left in. Everything was coming to an end, and so was he. With the Grievers trapping them inside, he knew they were finished. His back was to them as he sat on the floor knelt over MJ. He watched as Newt screamed at the Gladers to take cover, standing with his blade raised in his hand along with Minho who courageously held both of his knives in each hand, ready to fight until the last minute. Suddenly, something came flying down from the sky above them, striking the three creatures, causing them to explode into gooey particles and torn pieces of metal. Gasps and shrieks were heard from the crowd around him as they scurried away from the scene. Newt, Minho and Ned crouched down next to him, forming a circle around MJ, and covering their heads.

Everything that followed, seemed to happen in slow motion. It felt like he was in some type of a movie; because what he just saw when he raised his head could only happen in movies. Smoke and debris filled the air, creating a fog over their heads. Peter saw a man dressed in a deep red suit and a mask that covered his head and upper face land on his feet next to another person who looked like a robot; red armor shining in the sunlight. 

“What the hell?” Minho breathed, following Peter’s gaze.

“Alright, let’s get you out of here.” A familiar voice came from the red and gold walking suit. 

The man in the mask spun on his heels towards the frightened and confused looking Gladers, gathering them together and making sure everyone was here. Peter frowned, not understanding what was happening. The robotic voice sounded familiar, but he couldn’t quite decipher who it belonged to; or if what he had in mind was actually true. After he said those words, he turned to help the man who came with him.

Minutes later, they got everyone in one place. They successfully found every person that was hiding in the darker corners away from the Grievers that would have torn them apart if it weren’t for the two men who showed up to the rescue.

“Who are they?” Ned asked.

“Are they the ones we’re waiting for?” Newt looked at Peter.

“I don’t-- I don’t know.” he whispered.

“Hey, you! What are you covering over there?” the man in the iron suit asked, pointing at them. Peter’s head was down, keeping a close eye on MJ. 

Before the man could reach them, and before any of the boys answered, the sound of a roaring engine filled their ears, almost deafening them. Peter looked up at where the sound was coming from and he found a huge berg hovering over them. He felt the vibration in his stomach as the vehicle lowered itself and threw down a ladder that extended down to the ground. His heart hammered in his chest the second he remembered MJ’s words about them being transported out of the Maze by one of WCKD’s flying vehicles.  _ It’s them _ . They have finally come for them. Peter spotted a blond guy at the other end of the ladder, motioning for them to start climbing. The masked man seemed to get the signal and started pushing the group of candidates towards their way out. 

He was thankful that they were finally getting out of here, but there was something that he couldn’t understand. He stayed close to MJ, holding her, even though his shoulder was throbbing in pain, screaming at him to put it to rest. He watched as the robot approached them, urging his friends up and handing them over to the man in the horned mask. Why did he have horns on his mask? And how could he even see through it? They looked at Peter, silently asking him what to do, and Peter nodded at them, feeling his eyes still stinging from the amount of crying he’d done.

The second they cleared, the red-suited guy said something but Peter couldn’t hear him over the sound of the berg. He sat on one knee across Peter, and extended a hand towards MJ, but he held her closer, eyeing him suspiciously before he looked down at her again.

“Peter.” the man called, and Peter’s suspicions grew.  _ Is that-- _

“Hey, it’s me.” The gold mask of the suit was raised up, revealing Tony’s face. “It’s just me.” 

“Oh god.” Peter sobbed in relief, his thoughts being confirmed. 

“And that over there,” he pointed at the masked man who was helping the Gladers up the ladder. “Is Matt.” 

“Tony, I--” He looked at MJ, not knowing what to say or do. He refused to let go of her, trying to silence down his sobs.

“We gotta go, buddy.” he softly said. 

“No.” Peter furiously shook his head. “I won’t leave her.” 

Tony placed his palm over MJ’s wound and Peter saw ice coming out of it, spreading over her chest. “Eyes on me, buddy.” he said after he finished. “She will be okay, but we need to move now.” 

Peter had so many questions in mind, but he had no chance to ask or even get back answers.

He was about to do what he just did to MJ’s injury but Peter refused, “I’m fine.” His webs were still holding off well. He saw guilt flash in Tony’s eyes before his mask went over his face again. Peter let him carefully carry MJ in his arms and flew up to the berg with her while he raced his way up the ladder, ignoring the constant pain in his shoulder. He took one last glance at the Maze; where everything started, and where it all would end as he stepped into their means of transportation, the door closing behind him.

The inside of the berg was all white. White furniture, white doors, just like how everything was, back at the headquarters. Peter caught no sight of Tony or MJ. The berg was big enough to carry all of them without being crowded. He was startled when he felt a hand on his good shoulder. He turned to look at who it was and he found Matt with his mask off, softly smiling at him. 

“I knew you could make it.” He pulled him into a hug and Peter hugged him back just as tight, feeling the need for comfort. 

“I missed you.” Peter whispered into his clothes. 

Matt pulled back, still smiling. The guy he saw helping the candidates into the berg showed up from behind Peter, looking fondly at him. He whispered something into Matt’s ear before he pointed at him and said, “that’s Danny. He’s one of the people who has been helping us get to you.” 

“Welcome back.” Peter forced a small smile and nodded at him, not feeling energetic enough to greet him properly. All he worried about now was MJ. 

“Um, where’s MJ?” He croaked, his voice coming out weaker than he intended. 

“I don’t think it’s a good--” 

“Matt, please.” Peter begged. 

He blinked in defeat, and nodded towards a door behind Peter. He immediately made his way in there and quietly shut the door behind him. He saw her lying on a metal bunk bed, her chest barely rising and falling. He sat down on the floor next to the bed and glued his eyes to her again. Her eyes were peacefully closed, her face free of any signs of pain, but the fear that crept up inside him only kept growing. Strands of hair fell on her face which Peter gently brushed to the side. 

“Hang in there, please.” He found himself whispering. “You can’t leave now.” He spoke a bit louder this time. 

Moments of silence passed, and the words kept repeating themselves in his head, before he finally said them. 

“I love you.” He hopelessly uttered. “I love you for everything that you are, and I can’t let you go now.” A tear rolled down his cheek, but he quickly wiped it away. 

He saw something peeking through the collar of her shirt, and Peter couldn’t help but pull it aside to see what it was. His heart writhed in pain when his eyes caught sight of what was wrapped around her neck. His fingers trembled as they traced the necklace, holding the black dahlia pendant in his hand. He gave her that necklace when they were fifteen; he vividly remembers that day, and remembers her reaction to it. Right now, the flower was missing two petals, having been broken over time. Nevertheless, it made his stomach flutter that she was still wearing it.

The door flew open and Peter instantly wiped his tears and stood up. Matt came in, with Danny following behind. 

“Peter,” he started. “I might know a way to help MJ.” 

“What do you mean by _a way to help her_? She’s just injured..” he said in confusion. “It can be fixed, right?” 

Matt held a heavy expression to his face that Peter didn’t like. He didn’t like any of this, and he certainly didn’t like that Tony was nowhere to be found. “The harm isn’t just physical, Peter.” He explained. “It’s too late.” 

“No.” Peter disagreed. “Tony said that she’ll be okay.” He shakily breathed. 

“She will.” Matt comforted him, resting a hand on his back. “If you let Danny help.” 

“What can  _ he  _ do?” Peter curiously asked, glancing at the stranger who awkwardly stood at the other end of the room with his hands behind his back. 

“Danny has superpowers, just like you and me.” Matt smiled. “Not as awesome as ours though.” He winked, trying to lighten up Peter’s mood. 

Peter looked at him again and a small smile was on his face as he approached them. “Uh, what are they? Your powers, I mean.” 

Danny raised his right hand from where he was resting it behind his back and Peter’s jaw almost hit the ground. His fist was supernaturally glowing bright gold as if there was a flame running inside it. “I’m the immortal iron fist.” he said, his eyes shining with the reflection of his hand.

“The  _ what _ ?” Peter couldn’t help but ask. 

“It’s a long story.” Matt sighed. 

“I can help heal your girlfriend.” Danny said; his tone full of determination. “One of my powers is the ability to heal others.” 

“Oh..” Peter breathed in realization. 

“We won’t go through this unless you want us to.” Matt reminded him. 

“No, please,” he stepped aside, giving Danny room to move over to where MJ was lying. 

“Thank you.” Peter whispered to Matt. 

“I didn’t--” 

“I know you heard me.” He cut him off. “A bit rude to spy on others, you know.” He lightly smiled, looking up at Matt as he stood next to him, “but thank you.” 

“It’s the least I can do.” Matt patted his back. 

Peter watched Danny rest his hand on MJ, and if it was possible, his hand glowed brighter. He closed his eyes and Peter observed closely. He saw lines of gold slowly running up her arms, all leading to her chest. Her body regained its warm tanned color, leaving the pale one behind. His heart leapt inside his chest as Danny opened his eyes and withdrew his hand, revealing her no longer harmed chest. 

“I did my best, but I can’t do anything about the scarring.” Danny apologetically looked at him. 

“No, thank you. Thank you so much.” He repeatedly thanked him. 

“Your shoulder needs--” 

“No, it’s fine.” Peter politely declined his help, not wanting to use the guy’s powers for his own benefit the first time they meet.

“If it was fine, it wouldn’t have been dripping onto the floor.” Matt stated, pointing out something that Peter failed to notice earlier. 

“I don’t really want to-” 

“It’s okay.” Danny cut him off and before Peter could argue further, he gripped his shoulder. 

“Woah.” Peter breathed at the foreign feeling. It felt like something was being sucked out of him. Something bad. And as soon as Danny pulled back his hand, Peter felt lighter. He moved his arm around and rolled his shoulder, no longer feeling any pain. There were just a few scars where the Griever’s claw landed on his skin. 

“It’s good to finally see you in person, Peter.” Danny patted his shoulder. 

“Thank you.” Peter smiled, feeling a bit better now, knowing that MJ is fine. 

“She’s waking up.” Matt whispered to Peter. “We’ll leave you two some space.” he said as he and Danny rushed out of the room.

Peter stood stunned, unable to comprehend any of what happened in the last hour or two. MJ almost dying, Tony and Matt showing up in costumes (?) to rescue them, Danny (still a complete stranger to Peter) yet someone who was very glad to see him, and then  _ this _ . He turned around at the sound of shuffling and he saw MJ sitting up with a frown on her face. 

Relief and joy found their way to his face when their eyes met. Her hand went up to where she was wounded, confusion evident in her features. “Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Peter rushed to her side.

“What happened?” she asked. 

Peter sat down beside her, “one of Matt’s allies helped you.” 

“Your shoulder.” She glanced at it with wide eyes. “It’s-- there’s nothing.”

“Yeah, he helped me, too.” Peter smiled.

“Is this some kind of a dream?” She skeptically eyed him.

“Yeah,” he nodded, grinning. “And you’re in heaven.” 

MJ rolled her eyes, a smile shaping her lips. Peter melted at the sight; it felt different now. He thought he’d never see her smile again. He thought he’d never have the chance to do what he was about to do now.

“What?” She asked, a smile still on her face.

Peter answered by crashing his lips against hers, catching her off guard. The kiss was tender, needed, and  _ right _ . The way they easily synced together brought all types of good feelings to Peter’s being, and he could tell that MJ was feeling the same. They pulled back and rested their foreheads against each others’. 

“Never  _ ever  _ try to save my life again.” Peter mumbled, softly smiling. 

“Lesson learned.” MJ chuckled. “Anything else?” She raised her eyebrows, breaking away from him so she could see him clearly. 

“Yeah.” he replied. 

“What is it?” She sighed, pretending to look uninterested in what he was going to say. 

“I love you, Michelle Jones.” He widely smiled, quoting her words. 

“Took you six years.” She clicked her tongue in disapproval, before she slightly laughed. 

“I love you, too.” She wrapped her arms around him, holding him close. 

“I could stay like this all day.” Peter said into her hair. 

“Not in this world, unfortunately.” She drew back, tucking her hair behind her ears, sparking a curious question in him. It was such a small detail, and he didn’t know why he remembered to ask now, out of all times.

“What does your tattoo say?” 

“Huh?” MJ’s eyebrows came together in a clueless expression. 

“Your label?” Peter chuckled, proceeding to pull her closer and brush her hair out of the way. 

“Right.” She remembered. “What does it say?” 

Peter peered at the black ink, a small smile finding its way to his lips. He loved it, even though the memory that the words held was twisted. 

“It says Peter Parker’s.” He cheekily joked, earning a death stare from MJ. 

“Okay, that was a bad one.” Peter admitted. 

“Good thing you figured out on your own.” She faked-smiled. “Seriously, what’s written there?” 

“Anchor. It says that you’re an anchor.” Peter toyed with the hem of her shirt. 

“I’ve never heard more nonsense in my life.” She shook her head. 

“I think it’s true.” Peter shrugged. 

“That’s because you’re an idiot.” MJ blurted. 

“Why thank you.” Peter chuckled. “But I still think it’s true.” 

“In  _ what  _ way?” Her eyes skimmed over his face.

“You hold me in place.” Peter muttered, meaning every word he said. The sense of security and strength he felt when she was with him was enough to make him cling to the inked words on her skin.

MJ didn’t say anything; she just tightly held his hand, reminding him once again that this was all true. They survived  _ together _ . Peter zoned out, his mind drifting to Tony once again followed by a disturbing feeling that he didn’t like. 

“What is it?” MJ asked, noticing the shift in Peter’s demeanor.

“It’s Tony.” He looked at her, “I think he’s trying to avoid me.”

“ _ Avoid you _ ? No way.” She strongly disagreed. “You haven’t seen how--”

“That’s the thing.” he stated. “He’s probably blaming himself for everything that happened.” He ran both of his hands over his face, letting go of hers. 

“You know him better than I do, but if that’s what you think he’s doing, then go.” She rubbed his back. “Find him.” MJ gave him a slight push to get up. 

“Already trying to get rid of me this fast?” He changed the subject, sounding amused.

“Go away.” She grinned as she shooed him away with her hands. 

Peter listened and stepped out of the room, preparing himself for something he has been waiting for since the moment he saw Tony. On his way to his little search mission for Tony, Peter saw the people of the Maze helping themselves to food and drinks that Matt and the others have provided for them. He saw Newt and Minho chatting together about something, both laughing hard. He saw Ned picking up work on his piece of wood art. The scene brought warmth and happiness to his heart. Before Peter turned to face the different doors of the rooms that neighbored MJ’s room, he had spotted Matt walking in his direction.

“Is everything alright?” he asked.

“More than alright, thanks to you.” Peter smiled. 

“You deserve more, Peter.” His friend smiled. “He’s in there, by the way. He thinks he’s hiding.” Matt pointed at the door to Peter’s left. 

“What happened to you and Michelle wasn’t easy for him. None of what happened was.” Matt heavily said, and Peter’s heart sank. 

“Thanks again, Matt.” Peter nodded in appreciation and walked away, heading towards the door Matt directed him to. 

His hand slightly shook as it went for the door handle, pressing it down to open the door. Peter felt the lock breaking at his touch, but he ignored it and entered, leaving it ajar after him. Tony was standing with his back to the door, arms crossed over his chest. The armor he was wearing earlier was gone, and it was just him in his usual black jeans and dark grey shirt. He didn’t seem to hear Peter get in because he jumped when he spoke.

“I was looking for you.” Peter hesitantly said. 

“ _ Some people  _ couldn’t keep their mouth shut.” Tony half-heartedly joked.

“You thought I only came here because Matt told me where you are?” Peter couldn’t help but feel hurt at Tony’s lack of emotion. 

“Why would you be looking for me? I’m the last person you should be standing with, right now.” He looked at him with a blank expression.

“That’s not true.” Peter argued.

“That’s the only solid fact here, bud.” He turned his back to him once again, as if he was silently asking him to leave.

“You should be out there celebrating instead of being here.” he flatly said.

“No, you don’t get to push me away just because you  _ think  _ that you were the reason for all of this.” Peter snapped.

“I don't, think, kid. I  _ know _ .” he impatiently said.

“Then you know nothing.” Peter bluntly said.

Moments of uncomfortable silence passed, before Tony spoke.

“If I’d just stayed in my business...” He threw his head back, finally turning to face him. 

“But you didn’t.” Peter answered quietly, taking slow steps towards him. “And I’m glad you didn’t.” 

“If something had happened to you,” Tony said, his eyes holding so much terror in them. “I wouldn’t have forgiven myself.” 

“Nothing happened, I’m  _ right  _ here, because of you.” Peter genuinely replied.

“What if I hadn’t showed up? What if something else had happened? How would--” 

Peter cut him off by wrapping his arms around him, holding onto him for dear life. It took Tony a few seconds to follow Peter’s movements before he felt his arms engulf him in a tight embrace. He felt Tony let out a deep breath in relief, his hand coming up to the back of Peter’s head, his fingers running through his hair. 

“I knew you would come for me.” Peter mumbled into his shoulder, pausing for a moment before he said his next word. “Dad.” 

At that, Tony let out a heart-felt sob. He broke their embrace only to hold Peter’s face in his hands. “Are you sure you’d want this mess as a dad?” He smiled through his tears. 

“It’s the best mess I could ever wish for.” Peter grinned. 

“Yeah, that’s true.” Tony bragged. “C’mere.” he said, hugging him once again. 

“Stop crying, old man.” Seconds later, Pete pulled back. 

“You’re mocking my tears of joy, now?” Tony wiped under his eyes with his sleeves.

“At least they’re of joy.” Peter pointed out. 

“Yeah.” Tony whispered, his eyes lingering on Peter’s face. 

“There’s so much I need to know, right now.” His eyes lit up, referring to every single thing he has been questioning the second he and Matt landed in the Maze. 

And for a good amount of minutes, Peter let himself forget about all the trouble, all the madness and pain he went through, and focused on the voice of the man he has grown to miss more than anything else, letting the nostalgia take him to his own world. A world where his godfather sat and talked to him about every single thing Peter missed in the past few days. 


	26. Chapter 26

“Wow.” Peter breathed, a grin forming on his lips. 

He has lost count of how many times he reacted this way towards something that Tony said, and this time, it was his suit that they were talking about. 

“How did you even—“ Peter struggled to understand; totally amazed by the idea and how it occurred to Tony as if he had a feeling that he might actually need it. “Where is it?” he curiously asked. 

“Right here.” Tony rolled back his sleeve, showing off a silver strap with thin lines of red.

“ _ That’s  _ the whole thing?” 

“It’s close to how your web shooters work.” He pointed at Peter’s wrists, reminding him. 

“Yeah, right.” He clicked the now empty web shooters off, freeing his hands. “I uh, ran out of web fluid out there.” Peter mentioned. 

“I’m sorry, kid.” Tony took them and placed them aside, avoiding Peter’s gaze. 

“It’s not your fault. It’s not like any of us saw that coming.” He shrugged. 

“Mind if I cut in?” Matt’s head peeked through the door before he let himself in and joined both of them. 

Tony rolled his eyes but Peter could see the smile he had on his lips. 

“How are you feeling?” He rested his hand on Peter’s back. 

“Weird?” He chuckled. “I mean, overwhelmed would be an understatement.” He glanced at them, trying to wrap his mind around everything Tony told him. 

The truth behind WCKD and what Fisk has been doing wasn’t hard for him to grasp after everything he went through. Using him to hurt Tony wasn’t something that he was going to sleep away, neither was what he made each one of those candidates go through for a whole month. Peter’s head was jumbled up with so many thoughts. It was like there was a huge picture in his mind and little puzzle pieces were falling into place, completing the image. There was just one missing piece left, and Peter couldn’t quite find its right place in this mess.

“Is there something wrong?” Matt asked, concerned.

“When I first came to WCKD,” he started, his eyes staring into somewhere far as the memory tried to surface. “I was a kid back then. Almost fourteen. My aunt and I were having trouble keeping our place, and I didn’t like that she had to work all day and night to afford the rent.” 

“WCKD was barely an organization then. They needed volunteers to help set up the inside of the building. So, I went. I worked with other kids, MJ included, and we were offered real jobs there.” He recalled. 

“Is this how they picked their employees?” Tony asked, disgust evident in his tone. 

“No. Not everyone got this lucky.” Peter shook his head before he chuckled at how ironic the term ‘lucky’ sounded right now. “It was just me, MJ, and a few others, maybe ten or something.” 

“What happened then?” Matt crossed his arms over his chest. 

“Something I can’t understand now.” He frowned. “When Fisk first offered me the job, he took me to a room where he had name plates hung on the walls. I saw my parents’ names among them.” He glimpsed at Tony, who looked just as confused as he was. 

“He told me that they were the best at what they did, and that he wished to have me there.” His mind raced with entangled thoughts. 

“How come they used to work there? They could never be a part of this.” His eyes flickered between the two men with him in the room, looking for answers. 

Matt uncomfortably shifted onto one foot, and Tony held a look that Peter didn’t like. It looked as if he was trying to link things together but it wasn’t working out good for him. 

“Peter,” Matt calmly addressed. “I’m sure Tony told you about my work, right?” 

“Yeah.” He nodded, remembering Tony mentioning how Matt has dedicated years of his life to exposing Fisk and all his dirty work. 

“There’s something you need to know.” he announced, crouching down so he could be at eye level with Peter. 

“Your parents never worked for Fisk.” 

“But their—“

“Fisk needed people who could create a memory erasing potion. And your parents were his best option at that time. Because they were good people, they refused to do it, and threatened to expose him, but— they never got the chance.” Matt revealed, and Peter felt like a rock had just been thrown onto his chest, suffocating him. 

“I’m sorry, Peter.” He placed a hand on his knee, but Peter flinched away.

“No, no.” He shook his head. “My parents died in a car crash.” He stood up, and started pacing around the space of the room. 

“That’s what he had the internet say about it.” Matt sadly said, standing up as well. 

Tony was sitting dumbfounded at what he heard, too. His eyes were wide, bearing no emotion as he averted his gaze to Matt. “When I tried to look this up, I found no trace of older events. All it said was that they died in a car accident. Not even one single detail about what happened.” He slowly stood up as he spoke his words. “Murdock, if this is true—“ 

“It can’t be!” Peter yelled. “May— May would know, right?” His voice lowered by the time he wondered, waiting for an answer. “She would have told me.” His eyes teared up at the words he was hearing.

“No one knows, Peter. Not even May. If they had found out that she knew, they wouldn’t have left her alive.” Matt explained. 

“Son of a bitch.” Tony spat, his voice laced with anger. 

Peter was angry, too. All the anguish that was trying to fight its way to his being turned into pure rage. It felt like his life had become a series of hidden truths and there was no way of finding out what could be waiting for him next. He was angry at himself for being too naïve to believe that everything around him was okay, that he was doing the right thing. At this point, in the world they were living in, rights and wrongs did not sound that different. If killing people for achieving what you want is right, then there’s no room for what is right and what is wrong. There’s only room for what is done. 

“Pete.” Tony’s calm voice pulled him out of his thoughts. His hand was wrapped around Peter’s, unclenching it. “It’s okay.” he whispered. 

Peter hadn’t realized that his nails were digging into the insides of his palms, drawing blood, until Tony snapped him out of it. He desperately looked at him, before Tony pulled him into an embrace. His hand softly rubbed Peter’s tense back, trying to comfort him. 

“You deserve the world.” He cupped his cheeks, intently staring at him. “And I’m here to give you the best one.” He softly smiled. 

“Yeah, he’s not the only one planning on doing that.” Matt grinned from where he was standing. 

Peter smiled, “thank you.” 

Peter was beyond thankful for having Tony and Matt by his side. 

“If you say—“ 

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but we’re almost there.” Danny entered, mainly talking to Matt. 

“Make sure everyone is ready. We’re getting them all to our place as we agreed.” Matt said, approaching him.

He watched as they quietly chatted by the door before Matt spoke louder this time. 

“I’ll keep you updated.” He patted his shoulder before Danny nodded and left.

It took him a few minutes to figure out what they were talking about, and why Matt said ‘them’ instead of us. They were planning on going for Fisk, and he wasn’t going to let them leave him with the others.

Peter waited for Matt to come back and took a deep breath, carefully choosing his next words. “I’m coming with you.” 

Tony looked at him as if he had grown another head, “no, you’re not.” 

“Yes,  _ I am _ .” Peter disagreed, already feeling no desire to argue his way out of this. Especially with someone as stubborn as Tony.

Tony frantically covered his face with his hands, already realizing that he wasn’t going to succeed in convincing Peter to stay here. 

“Peter has a saying in this just as much as we do.” Matt stated, triggering Tony’s anger. 

“Do you even know what we’re about to deal with?” Tony asked, unreasonably trying to refuse Peter’s wish.

“We’re dealing with the man who’s responsible for the death of hundreds of people, my parents included. And he  _ almost  _ killed all of us. So, no, I’m not going to sit here and wait for you to go up against him on your own.” Peter pointed at them both, taking in a deep breath after speaking out his thoughts.

“Peter, just the thought of this lunatic near you,” Tony snapped, unable to finish off his words from how angry he was with whatever image found its way to his head. 

“He’d never have to be near anyone again. Let me come with you.” Peter asked once more, already deciding that he would go anyway, even if Tony didn’t agree. 

He stayed silent for a few seconds, before he opened his lips. “You know, out of all the times you backed him up with something that I disagreed with, this is the worst one yet, Murdock.” Tony sighed.

Matt just shrugged, and winked at Peter with his right eye that Tony couldn’t see from where he stood on his left side.

“Are we even sure that he would be at WCKD?” Tony asked, glancing at Matt. 

“There’s only one way to find out.” Matt casually hit Peter’s back on his way out of the room. “Suit up. You’re gonna need that.” 

“Did he just say ‘suit up’?” Peter quizzically looked at Tony, pointing behind him at where Matt was standing seconds ago. 

“You thought I only made suits for him and I?” Tony raised a questionable eyebrow. 

“Well- I—“ His words were cut short when Tony handed him a blue metal spider. 

“Place it on your chest and tap it twice.” Tony directed, showing him the simple movements.

Excitement burned at Peter’s fingers as he followed. Just like how his web shooters adjusted to his hands, small parts started to assemble themselves around his body, forming a full suit. The cool metal spread across every inch of his skin until it covered his head and face as well. 

_ “Hello, Peter.”  _ An automated woman’s voice greeted into his ears.

“Holy shit!” Peter laughed out loud, unable to contain his excitement. He looked at his red iron-covered hands, moving them around. He then looked down at himself, seeing the shining blue at the thighs, the gold outlines of a spider taking over his torso.

“It has its own built in web shooters, and the mask retracts down at your will.” Tony explained, gesturing around his face.

“It’s perfect.” Peter grinned, raising his head back up to look at Tony, and the mask went down just like he said. 

“Happy birthday, kid.” Tony smiled, and he could see his eyes glistening with tears once again. 

“Don’t turn into a weeping old man again.” Peter joked, trying to lighten up the already eerie mood.

“Just promise me one thing?” 

“Anything.” Peter nodded.

“Don’t get all too superhero-y on us out there?” Tony tried to sugarcoat it, but Peter could tell he was highly uncomfortable with his presence with them. 

“Can’t promise you that.” Peter teased. “Not with this ridiculously awesome suit.” He pointed at himself. 

“You’re actually going to kill me one day.” Tony shook his head, pretending to regret giving Peter the iron spider suit. 

“So, nanites?” Peter grinned, feeling the familiar tingle of excitement that he always got whenever science or technology were mentioned.

“Pretty impressive, isn’t it?” Tony looked at Peter’s attire in pride. 

“No shit.” he chuckled. 

“It’s also bulletproof.” Tony remarked. 

“No way!” Peter gaped. “But Matt’s suit isn’t—“

“Matt can hear bullets before they are even fired.” Tony said. “But I made his mask bulletproof just in case. Mainly based on vibranium.” He explained while he proceeded to deploy his own suit. 

“How did you even get access to all of that?” Peter asked in disbelief.

“I thought you had more faith in your old man?” Tony snickered.

“I don’t know if I should be faithful or scared, right now.” He chuckled. 

“We got this, Spider-Man.” Tony smiled, raising up a fist, waiting for Peter to bump it. 

Peter smiled and hit Tony’s hand, the sound of their iron suits clinking together. 

“You should be Iron-Man.” Peter stated. “Since you’re practically a man in an iron suit.” He pouted his lips in thought. 

“Yeah, Iron-Man.” Peter nodded, voicing the name out loud once again. 

“Not bad.” Tony thought. “Kinda like the ring of it.”

Peter chuckled, “of course, you do.” 

“I better go tell MJ we’re leaving.” he announced, making his way to the door. He stood by it, looking at his feet in disbelief with a silly grin on his face. “You made it sound absorbent?”

Tony just shrugged with a knowing smirk, obviously proud of his work.

Peter shook his head and got out with Tony following behind. He saw him head towards Matt and Danny who stood at the end of the room, chatting together. He glanced at the others who were either asleep, eating, or still talking. Peter smiled when he saw Ned fast asleep while Newt and Minho were still awake. Their eyes widened when they took a look at Peter, starstruck-like smiles shaping their features. They silently cheered for him, making sure they don’t wake up the others. He giggled, waving back at them as he turned to walk away. 

“Peter?” He heard someone call his name from behind, stopping him halfway. 

He spun to see who was calling, and he was surprised when he saw Flash awkwardly standing a foot away.

“Flash,” He frowned. “Is everything alright?” 

“Yeah.” He answered, fidgeting with the sleeve of his shirt. “It’s just— I’m sorry.” Flash apologetically looked at him, his wide brown eyes full of guilt. 

“I shouldn’t have listened to Gally. I should have come to you first, but- but I didn’t know! I didn’t know that he was going to do what he did.” At this point, Flash was almost crying, and Peter felt bad for him. 

“It’s okay, Flash.” Peter comforted, rubbing his shoulder. “You said it yourself. You didn’t know.” 

“But—“

“And you proved that you’re a good person when you did what you did out there, stopping him.” He smiled.

“So, you’re— you don’t hate me?” he hesitantly asked. 

“I don’t have a reason to do so.” Peter shrugged his shoulders. “I knew you had something good in there, somewhere.” He winked. 

Flash let out a low laugh in relief, wiping at his nose.

“What’d you call me, that day?” he grinned.

“Braveheart.” Flash replied.

“Right.” Peter pointed at him. “That’s something  _ you  _ should know you have, too.”

“Good luck with whatever you’re about to do.” Flash smiled, referring to Peter’s suit.

“Thanks, Flash.” Peter nodded at him and watched him go back to where he was sitting.

He sighed to himself and went to MJ’s room. He didn’t bother knocking before he went in, and almost regretted it as she squeaked and turned around, her bare back facing him. Peter’s cheeks flushed red as he, too, turned his back to her, eyes wide in embarrassment. 

“Woah!” He raised his hands in an apologising manner. “Sorry, sorry, I should have knocked.” 

He heard shuffling from behind him, indicating that she was struggling to put on her shirt. 

“Rooms have doors for a reason, Peter!” she snapped.

“Sorry.” He bit his lip, “you done?” 

“Yes.” She sighed, and he turned around to face her. She was standing with her arms awkwardly crossed over her chest.

“So, he finally gave it to you!” She noted, looking him up and down.

“You knew about this?” he asked, approaching her.

“What do you think?” She smirked.

“I think,” he started, uncrossing her arms from her chest and holding her hands in his. “That I look too good in this suit that you can’t take your eyes off of me.” He smirked in amusement.

“Don’t flatter yourself  _ that  _ much.” She teased, her eyes eventually glancing down at his lips then back up to his eyes.

“Go on, admit it.” He pushed. “I’m no stranger after all.” He slightly shrugged, referring to their awkward encounter seconds ago.

“You wish.” She lightly pushed his hands away with hers. 

Silence filled the air between them before MJ broke it with a question, sensing Peter’s sudden shift in mood.

“Wait, why are you wearing the suit?” She frowned.

“Yeah, that’s actually why I came here.” He blinked. “I’m leaving with Tony and Matt.” 

“What do you mean  _ leaving with Tony and Matt _ ? Leaving for WCKD?” Her tone deepened, worry starting to show in her eyes.

“I can’t stay here.” He shook his head.

“Peter, no. No, I won’t let you go see that lunatic.” She disagreed, proceeding to pull her hands out of his but Peter held tighter onto them, stopping her.

“I  _ need  _ to.” He stated, ignoring the burning in his chest that accompanied the memory of Matt’s words. “Fisk is behind the death of my parents.” 

MJ fell silent, shock written all over her face. “How is that even possible?” she quietly asked.

“It’s messed up.” Peter took a deep breath, shortly looking to the side before continuing. “I’ll tell you everything when I get back.” 

“I’m coming with you.” She blurted out.

“ _ I need you _ here.” Peter shook his head, refusing to listen to her. He cupped her cheeks, his thumbs softly grazing the sides of her face.

“I don’t want you to go.” she whispered, resting her hands on his chest.

“I’m not going alone.” He assured her. “Matt and Tony will be there, too, and I think Matt has some kind of a plan.” he said, remembering seeing him and Danny talking aside. 

Her glossy eyes stared up at him, and Peter couldn’t help but kiss her forehead, letting his lips linger there for a moment. 

“Come back alive, please?” She smiled, blinking away her tears. 

“I will.” He smiled back, taking one last glance at her. “I love you.” he uttered. 

“I know, and I love you, too.” She knowingly smiled, nudging his forehead with hers. “Go get that son of a bitch.” She encouraged, giving him a light push. 

Peter listened, and walked out of the room, and made his way to where he spotted Tony, Matt, Danny, a dark haired woman and a well-built, dark skinned man standing together. He squeezed his way in, standing between Tony and Matt. 

“All good?” Tony asked.

“Yeah.” he whispered, not knowing if that was the right answer since his stomach started to churn in anxiousness.

“Peter Parker.” the dark haired woman said, startling Peter. “Finally.” She sighed, flashing him the smallest of smiles as she reached out to shake his hand.

“Jessica.” She introduced herself. 

Peter nodded, returning the gesture. 

“Luke Cage.” the dark skinned man said, also greeting Peter. “Good to finally meet you.” 

“Likewise.” He answered, although he had no idea who they were.

“Luke is an old friend of Jessica’s.” Matt said, “they both will be responsible for the others while we’re away.” He explained, letting things become clearer in Peter’s mind.

“Danny is coming with us with a back up.” He continued. “We can’t risk going there all alone.” Peter and Tony nodded in agreement.

“You ready?” Matt asked. 

Peter’s mask assembled over his head in the same exact moment Tony’s did. 

“We’re here, guys!” someone yelled, and Peter assumed that it was someone who was in charge of flying this vehicle. 

The three of them approached the door of the flying berg as it slowly opened, revealing the skyscraper that stood tall, waiting for them. Matt put on his mask and placed his hands on his hips, as if he was waiting for something. The door was fully open now, strong wind whipping at their figures. 

“I hope you’re aware of the fact that we are actually walking into our own death trap?!” Matt yelled over the sound of the air blowing through the gap.

“I’d honestly be disappointed if we were met with anything less!” Tony sarcastically replied.

“Is this your usual kind of pep talk?! Because it’s not working for me.” Peter glanced down at the city lights that lit up the night sky.

“Alright, cut the chit-chat. Let’s go.” Tony said as Matt held onto him. His suit fired up, his feet leaving the ground before they headed down. Peter followed, jumping after Tony. 

“Uh, where are we supposed to land?” Peter asked and waited for Tony’s answer to come through the comms. 

“The floor where Fisk’s office is.” he instantly replied as he blew up one of the glass windows, creating a way for them to enter. 

Peter scrambled his way in, roughly landing on one knee before he slowly stood up. His heart was hammering in his chest, his ears and cheeks heating up with every second that passed. They were just a door away from the man who started all of this. One punch through that wooden barrier, and it would be over. Unusual silence surrounded the three of them. They had just broken into a highly secured building, along with the other group that followed by other means, yet nothing was happening. 

Suddenly, an overwhelming feeling that something bad was about to happen overtook Peter. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and a chill ran up his spine. 

_ Something’s not right _ , his instinct told him.

“We need to get out of here.” he found himself rapidly saying.

“What?!” Tony asked in surprise.

“I have a feeling; a bad one. We shouldn’t be here.” None of what he was saying made sense in his mind, but the growing fear inside him overpowered any logical explanations.

“Peter’s right.” Matt broke the silence.

“You’re serious.” Tony raised his eyebrows, uneasiness starting to cover his features. “Do you hear something?” he asked.

“Heartbeats.” Matt replied. 

“Fisk?” Tony asked.

“No.” Matt shook his head.

“Then what is it?” he impatiently asked.

“There are so many of them.” he tilted his head to the side, looking like he was straining his ears to listen. 

“How many?”

“It’s hard to tell, but—” he paused, inhaling before he voiced out his next words. “Weapons are involved.”

“No surprise.” Tony muttered.

The longer they stood there, the stronger the feeling grew in the pit of Peter’s stomach. He was too caught up in trying to calm his breathing down when Tony turned to open a door that allowed them access further into the building. 

“Tony, wait!” 

But it was too late.


	27. Chapter 27

As soon as his hand twisted the knob, a deafening alarm started going off accompanied by red blinking lights. The sound pierced through Peter’s ears, bringing an unpleasant feeling with it. His head pounded in pain from how irritating it was. Judging by his state, Matt, too, was obviously unhappy. Having heightened senses had its downsides, and now was one of them. But the pain in his ears and head disappeared as fast as it came when he noticed what was happening around them.

Men dressed in black descended from various openings in the ceiling, one after another, until Peter lost count of them. The letters WCKD could be clearly seen from where they shone on the front and back of their uniforms. Their heads were covered by black helmets, making it impossible for anyone to see their features. They had snipers pointed at the three of them, and Peter didn’t need time to conclude that they were given orders to kill them on sight. He looked down at himself and his eyes were met with the countless red pointer lights that came from the guns. 

The alarm had stopped, and the only source of light was the red lights that were no longer blinking. He glanced sideways and saw Matt on his right side, standing still with his fists curled by his sides. Tony was a few steps away, standing by the door he tried to open on the left. His eyes then travelled to the opening they went through, which was now blocked by the army of men who surrounded them  _ and  _ a metal door that came sliding down when they arrived, fully trapping the trio in there.

Peter started connecting the dots together and his anger only increased. Fisk’s plan was stupid, thinking that trapping them within walls and having them fight almost an entire army would stop either of them from reaching him. This showed how scared Fisk actually was. He would do anything to stop them, but this still wasn’t enough.

“Stand down.” One of the men stepped forward. 

Movement from where Tony was standing caught Peter’s attention. It wasn’t just him who noticed, because the same guy who addressed them just a second ago had his weapon pointed at Tony as he slowly walked back to join him and Matt. Peter’s heart thumped loud in his ears as the silence grew louder. 

“Now what?” he whispered from behind his Spider-Man mask.

“We fight.” Tony answered, wasting no time in firing at the stranger who asked them to ‘stand down’. 

In a split second, men came at them from every direction with only one aim.

To kill them.

Tony, Matt and Peter stood in a triangle, their backs to each other as they faced the ones who were attacking them. A guy came at Peter with his gun, ready to fire at any second, but he was quick enough to shoot a web at his feet and pull it, causing him to fall. He repeated the action with the other two that followed, and knocked some of their weapons out of their hands when he could. They were greatly outnumbered, and they weren’t actually fighting for themselves, they were trying not to get killed. Soon enough, gunshots were heard around Peter. He had lost Matt and Tony in the middle of all this, so he had to stick to the ceiling and look for them. 

He spotted Matt hitting a guy on the head with the base of his sniper, knocking him out. Another one came at him from behind, but Matt must have heard him because he turned around and punched him square in the face, breaking his helmet. Peter saw one of them getting ready to fire at Matt, and he instantly shot a web that snatched the weapon out of his hands, leaving him helpless. 

His eyes searched for Tony, but he couldn’t see him anywhere. He crawled his way to where Matt was and swiftly landed on his feet. “Where’s Tony?” he yelled over the hustle around them.

As if he heard him, Tony’s iron arm came swinging right in front of Peter, blocking a bullet from colliding with his body. “Not that your suit isn’t bulletproof.” he panted, drawing a grin on Peter’s face.

“Matter of habit, I guess?” he replied.

“Yeah, but not for long.” he joked as he fired at yet another man. “We need to get out of here!” 

“No kidding!” Matt yelled, pushing an unconscious body out of his way.

Peter looked at the numerous bodies that laid unmoving on the ground, and his heart sank when he looked around him and saw that the ones fighting them were much more. It is not like they weren’t doing well on their own, but this was holding them off from getting to Fisk. This is what he wants. 

Suddenly, Peter spotted something bizarre happening in the far distance. The middle of the door they tried to open was glowing. The golden circle slowly spread, covering the whole surface. The barrier bent with unseen force and cracks started to appear until it burst open, flying in the opposite direction. Peter unintentionally laughed out loud in victory as he saw Danny standing in the doorway with his fist glowing brighter than ever. 

“Go!” he shouted, nodding his head in the direction of their way out. Other men rushed in from behind Danny, fighting their way into the place. “We’ll handle this. Go get him.” he said as he punched through a row of men. His fist was so strong that it sent the men flying until their bodies hit different parts of the floor as if it was the easiest thing he could do. 

Peter was too stunned to move, until he felt Tony’s hand on his shoulder urging him to move forward. They ran out of the mini war zone they were held in, leaving the rest of the job to the Iron Fist and his men. He glanced behind him to make sure that no one got out after them, and he was relieved when he saw Danny blocking the entrance, leaving them no chance to get past him.

They were standing in the middle of a stairwell, and Peter assumed that it led to an emergency exit because of how narrow it was. His pulse was ringing loud in his ears and his chest was burning with every sharp inhale he took. 

“Uh, where are we supposed to go now?” Peter asked after he caught his breath. “We don’t know where Fisk is.”

“Wherever he is, he couldn’t have gone far.” Matt replied. “If one thing, Fisk values this hellhole more than anything else.” 

“We could try out our luck and start by looking for him here.” Tony said. “Friday?” 

Moments of silence passed before they heard a female robot voice answering him.

_ “Target is located on the rooftop, boss. I suggest: immediate approach.”  _

“Immediate approach?” Tony asked in surprise.

_ “He is all by himself.”  _

“That’s our cue.” Tony announced, taking Matt’s hand. His heels fired up before his feet left the ground and sped up to reach the top floor. 

Peter followed, his webs coming into action. He loved how his suit was cooperative, easily following his commands and swift in its movements. It’s by far the best thing Tony has ever given to him. They finally reached the highest floor in this building, having only a door standing in their way to Fisk once again. He didn’t know what he was going to do, or what he should expect from the man who had almost ruined all his life since the day they met. They quietly landed, each one of them removing his mask. There was no need for them anyway. Fisk knew they were coming for him one way or another.

Before they could make their move, Matt held up his hand, stopping them. His fingers were pressed against his comms, as if he was trying to hear properly. 

He then grunted and meant to punch the wall next to him but Tony stopped him.

“Woah woah, what’s wrong?” Tony asked.

“Are your comms working alright?” he asked, surprising both Peter and Tony with the random question.

“They’re--” Peter’s tapped the little device in his ear. He was ready to say that they were working just fine, but he heard nothing. “I can’t hear anything.” His eyes went to Tony whose face held a blank expression to it.

Which only meant one thing. 

“Fisk found them.” Worry started to creep up inside Peter at the thought of any of his friends getting hurt. Again. 

Matt’s lips were drawn into a thin line. “It was the last thing I heard from Foggy before the signal got cut.” he said. “But the kids are safe. I know that Jessica and Luke are up to the task.”

At that, the two men let out a sigh of relief. 

“I’ll fucking kill him.” Tony warned in a low tone.

Before Matt or Peter could stop him, Tony pushed the door open and stepped out into the vast space of the roof. Peter rushed behind him with Matt on his side.

There he was. 

He was standing at the very front of the building. He was so close to the edge that Peter thought that if the wind got a bit stronger, it could blow him off of it. It looked like he didn’t even hear them coming. His broad shoulders were relaxed, giving off an unusually calm posture. Out of the things Peter tried to expect on his way up here,  _ this  _ was not one of them. He was starting to think that Fisk really didn’t hear them until he turned around to face them.

“Took you longer than I expected.” he smirked, his eyes looking them up and down. 

“It’s over, Fisk.” Matt said, taking one step forward.

“There’s no such thing as over, Mr. Murdock.” he said. “Change is inevitable.” 

“Change?!” Peter found himself scoffing, too provoked to stay quiet.

“Yes! Change!” he answered a bit too loudly, losing his previous calm demeanor. His hand went up to the collar of his shirt and Peter watched as he uncomfortably craned his neck before he spoke again, this time a lot quieter. “Something you have been trying  _ in vain _ to stop.”

“If it’s in vain, then why are we here? Why are you alone by yourself,  _ waiting  _ for us?” Matt asked, approaching him. 

The man didn’t even flinch at the proximity between them. “For years, I have strived to make this world a better place.”

“By murdering people?!” Matt asked, disgusted.

“Those who  _ chose  _ to stand in my way.” He narrowed his eyes at Matt, correcting him.

“Is that why you killed Obadiah? Because he  _ got in your way _ ?!” Tony spat. 

“Stane had a choice.” Fisk coldly replied. “Everyone does.” 

“Even Mr and Mrs Parker had one.” His gaze shifted to Peter. 

At that, Matt’s fist collided with Fisk’s face, hitting him hard enough to cut his right cheekbone. Everything that followed happened in the flash of a second. Tony’s hand was around Fisk’s throat. Even through his teary eyes, Peter could see the veins that looked like they were about to pop on the side of Tony’s head. His jaw was clenched tight, and Peter knew that it was taking everything in him not to snap the neck of the man whose head was turning redder with every second that passed. 

“Don’t you dare.” Tony sneered. 

Fisk struggled to free himself, and the harder he tried, the tighter Tony’s grip became. “I told you that you’ll regret this.” he spoke through gritted teeth. 

Peter watched as Matt turned to stop Tony from doing something he would later regret, even though he was just hitting him before Tony had stepped in. His breathing was growing irregular again and he found himself stumbling a few steps back away from the scene. The voices of the men around him became muffled by his erratic heartbeats. The adrenaline he felt in his veins was killing him. His hands were shaking from how bad he wanted to smash them into the face of his parents’ murderer; the person who twisted his life into a lie. 

Peter was pulled out of his short-lived breakdown by Fisk’s loud shouting. Matt was holding Tony back from attacking him again. He heard him grunt into Tony’s ear, “Stop playing by his rules. This is exactly what he wants.” 

“Yes, I killed them. I killed Stane, I killed Richard and Mary Parker. I killed them all!” Fisk yelled, his eyes shining with unbelievable pride.

“And I will eliminate whoever gets in my way.” he said, stepping on Peter’s last nerve.

He stormed towards him and grabbed him by the collars of his black dress shirt. “You want me to kill you.” he heavily breathed through his flared nostrils.

“There’s nothing stopping you.” he looked down at Peter with twisted amusement in his eyes.

“Right.” Peter roughly let him go, causing him to stumble before regaining his balance. “But I won’t.” He shook his head.

“Dying will show you mercy. And that’s something you don’t deserve.” He eyed him with disgust.

“You’re too young to understand what this race is about, Peter. Sacrifices had to be made!” he shouted.

Peter felt sick when he called him by his first name. He ignored what he heard and continued. “What you deserve is,” he shot two webs at him, violently forcing him down on his knees. 

“Spending what’s left of your life,”  _ webbing his arms to his body. _

“Facing the one thing you have been scared to encounter for all those years. You built this ‘city’ and locked out the rest of the population, leaving them for the virus to slowly and painfully kill them, and you were never going to give them a cure!” 

“ _ The rest of the population? _ WCKD  _ is  _ the population.” he boasted. “Men of science, men of value to the future.” 

“What about the thousands of children out there? The dreamers who aspire to be something one day? And  _ you  _ decided that they don’t deserve a chance.”  _ webs his mouth shut _ . 

Memories of his first days here flashed in his mind. He had wondered for days back then, why he never saw any of the volunteers that first came with him to help bring this place to life. It never crossed his mind. He shuddered to think about what else Fisk might have done to reach what he has today. What he  _ had _ . 

Peter approached him and knelt down so he could be at eye level with him. “You will suffer for every life that you ruthlessly took, and no one will be there to help you.” he whispered, staring into his now rage-filled eyes. 

“And this is for my parents.” Peter’s fist struck his jaw, snapping his neck to the side.

He then felt a pair of hands on his shoulders, helping him up to his feet. It was Matt. The silence was heavy, but no one needed to say anything. All has been said. 

Tony was silently watching, probably still trying not to kill him with his bare hands. Fisk let out an aggravated scream that was silenced by Peter’s webs on his mouth. It was filled with defeat. The weight of his failure and helplessness was finally sinking in, and Peter couldn’t be happier with the state Fisk was in.

“What do you want to do next, Peter?” Matt asked, surprising him.

Peter took in a deep breath and glanced at him, “I have something in mind.” 

Matt nodded and walked towards Fisk. In one rapid move, he hit him on the head and the next second, the man was unconscious. 

“I want him out of here.” Peter said, looking at Tony. “I want him to see the world he ran away from, and the odds will do the rest.” 

“Are you sure about that?” Tony asked.

Peter nodded, answering his question. 

“And I know just a perfect spot.” he muttered. 

Peter proceeded to carry the unconscious man since Tony will be assisting Matt who seemed too bothered by the idea not to comment on it. “Well, you’re not going to parkour all your way to the desert, are you?” 

“The d-desert?” Peter gaped, not recalling anything about deserts that ever existed near here. 

“Trust me on this one?” Tony shot him a reassuring look.

He curtly nodded before his mask crawled over his head once again. Tony’s heels fired up, lifting him off the ground. Next thing he knew, he was slinging webs on his way out of WCKD for the first time in years. Peter’s stomach flipped with different emotions that felt like an unwanted weight on him. The lack of talking between him and his allies was giving him so much room to think about everything that was going on. He didn’t want that. 

Minutes later, they landed in the middle of nowhere. Peter had no idea where they were.

“How did you come across this place?” he asked.

Tony shrugged. “Long story, I stumbled upon it when I was trying to reach out to Matt.” 

“Makes sense.” he mumbled more to himself.

It was an abandoned piece of land, Peter could tell by its state. Chunks of metal and broken furniture were found around them. They looked old and worn out, having been left out here for rust to eat at them. He let down the guy he was carrying, watching as his body landed with a thump on the sandy ground. He stepped back, feeling the need to create any type of distance between them. Something cracked under his feet and he looked down to see what it was. 

It looked like another broken piece of whatever filled this place, but something else caught his attention. It was hard to tell if he read it right, because the ink that had once been white was now washed out by dry dirt and rust. But the letters were all too familiar. They have haunted his memory long enough for him to recognize the initials. The initials that stood for the name of the horrid place he grew to hate with every fiber in his body. 

He looked up at Tony as soon as he realized where they were. “Is this…” he breathed, not knowing what to call it.

“Where WCKD’s trash goes.” Tony bluntly answered. He approached Peter, his face revealing itself once again.

Peter let out a breath of astonishment that ended with what could be called a chuckle. Even in the middle of all this, he still found a small part of him that wanted to laugh at Tony’s words for referring to Fisk as trash, but he couldn’t fully do it at the moment. 

“So this is it?” he looked on either side of him at the two men.

“I guess that’s it.” Matt replied, his lips holding a ghost of a smile to them.

“I can’t believe that  _ he  _ was behind it all.” Peter uttered, not knowing how  _ one man  _ was responsible for this much damage. “He hurt so many people.” his eyes stung with tears that only blurred his vision, refusing to fall. 

“You saved just as many.” Tony smiled at him. 

“I wouldn’t have done it without you.” Peter argued. “Both of you.” 

“No,” Matt joined the conversation. “We just gave you a hand of help, Peter.  _ You  _ did this.” 

Peter wished he could feel the pride he should be feeling after hearing their words. He wished he could feel the joy of victory they were probably feeling right now, knowing that they finally got rid of Fisk. But he felt drained; drained of all emotions and energy. He needed time to process everything that happened lately. He needed to leave everything behind and throw himself into the comfort of his small bed back home.  _ Home…  _

“We should probably get out of here before a Crank shows up.” Matt announced, and Peter wondered if he heard something but didn’t want to startle them. 

“Right.” Tony agreed. “You alright, bud?” He placed a hand on his shoulder. 

“My aunt.” Peter said. “I need to see May.” 

Tony’s eyes shifted to Matt for a second before he answered. “She’s safe, don’t worry.” 

“Is there something you should tell me?” Peter asked, addressing them both.

“What do you mean  _ should  _ tell you? You know everything you need to know.” His mask assembled again, indicating that they were leaving. “I don’t know about you but I don’t wanna get eaten alive before we celebrate this glorious day.” Tony picked up Matt and in a few seconds he was in the air. 

Peter sighed and couldn’t help the small smile that forced itself on his lips. He took one last glance at the man who was still knocked out and tied with Peter’s webs, before he was up in the air again, swinging between the high buildings of the city, following Tony to where the Resistance was. 

The journey back felt strange. It felt strange not having to worry about something anymore. Like they say, cut off the head of the snake and the body will die. Fisk was the head of the snake. It was true Peter didn’t actually kill him, but he left him out there to meet his fate, whether it was the government or the Cranks. Whichever is faster to find him.

Shortly after they took off, the three men arrived at their-- safe haven? Peter didn’t know what to call it, but from what Tony told him, this place was almost like a home to Matt, and the people in it were his family. It broke him that it was now left in ruins. They slowly made their way past the bodies and rubble that filled the hallway. Peter couldn’t really make out the features of the place, but he could conclude that it was a great hiding spot. 

“I’m sorry, Matt.” Peter whispered, taking in the state of the place.

“It was all for a purpose, right?” Matt calmly replied. “Everyone’s alright, and that’s what matters.” He smiled, taking Peter by surprise. 

He wondered how Matt could be so calm about this. If he were in his place, he certainly wouldn’t behave  _ this  _ rationally.

They reached an open door, or more likely a doorway, because it looked like it was broken off of its hinges during the attack. Peter could see heads floating in there before they ascended the few steps that led into the vast space of the room. Matt was the first to enter, causing the crowd of people to fall silent, then followed Peter and Tony.

He took off his Daredevil mask, “It’s over.” The room was filled with high pitched screams of both men and women at the two simple words.

Foggy and Karen were standing at the front and rushed to hug Matt the moment they saw him, crying tears of relief. Peter’s eyes searched for the familiar faces he knew, but he couldn’t see them anywhere. Everyone hugged each other, various expressions of happiness drawn on their faces. As if his thoughts were heard, he spotted MJ’s face, then Ned, Newt and Minho appeared. They were all standing too close to each other and when Peter approached them, they parted to reveal someone who was standing behind them.

She let out a half sigh of relief, half a sob at his sight and raced to him before he could reach where they were standing. Her arms flung themselves at Peter, pulling him into one of her bone-crushing hugs which sent him years back in time. The familiar lavender scent that Peter used to complain about, saying that it smelt funny, filled his nostrils for the first time in ages. The irreplaceable warmth that settled within him at the feeling of being in her arms again left his knees weak. 

“My baby.” May cried, pulling away for a second only to stare at his face and hug him again. She went down to the floor, taking him down with her.

Peter held onto her as tight as he could, and the longer they held each other, he found himself crumbling like the top of an iceberg. He let all his emotions topple down, shaking with sobs as they sat there. “I missed you.” Peter hiccuped.

Only in that moment had everything come sinking in. He hadn’t realized how fatigued he was until he collapsed in her arms. His muscles ached, his eyes burnt, his mind spun in so many thoughts, still having a hard time covering the incidents of the past few days. 

“So much happened.” he said, his voice muffled by her shoulder. 

“I know, I know.” She ran her hand up and down his back. 

Peter broke their embrace and May brought her hand to the side of his face, softly caressing his cheek. He leaned into her touch, staring at her ageing features. Her eyes were red, cheeks wet with fresh tears. Her lips were drawn into a soft smile that brought a type of comfort and belonging that Peter never thought he needed. 

“You’ve grown so much.” she whispered and Peter nodded, holding her hand in his, still feeling the tears that wanted to run down his own cheeks.

Before he could say anything, he spotted MJ’s black converse standing not too far from them. When his eyes landed back on May, she shot him a warm look and gestured for him to go see the rest of his friends. He wiped his face and got to his feet, glancing behind him to see Tony helping May up and exchange a few words. 

As soon as he reached her, his lips found their way to hers. He didn’t wait for her to say something. He didn’t wait for ‘I missed you’ or ‘I thought I’d lost you’. He came back. He was here, and he wasn’t planning on changing anything about that any time soon. When they pulled away, Peter could hear the silly noises Newt, Minho and Ned were making in the background. 

When they saw that he noticed and was looking at them, their faces fell serious, pretending to look innocent. Not too long after that, they all burst into laughter. 

Peter felt a hand squeeze his shoulder, and he turned to see who it was. He smiled when he saw that it was Tony. He was no longer in his Iron-Man suit, and his eyes were glistening with tears. He squeezed MJ’s hands in his and she nodded, silently greeting Tony with a smile.

He walked to the side with him, stepping away from the noise. “I see, May left an impression?” Peter grinned, referring to Tony’s glossy eyes.

He shook his head in amusement and wiped his eyes. “Have I told you how proud I am of you?” Tony fake-frowned, causing Peter’s lips to twitch into a smile.

“No, I don’t think so.” he replied, pretending like he hasn’t heard these words before.

“I  _ am  _ proud of you, Pete.” He smiled. “You did it.” 

“No,  _ we _ did it.” Peter pointed at them both.

“C’mere.” Tony smiled, ushering him in for a hug.

It was brief but heartfelt. Tony patted his back twice and Peter held him tight, cherishing the moment. Before he could pull away, he heard MJ yell something and next thing he knew, he was being squeezed by additional bodies.

“Don’t you just love group hugs, Peter?” MJ teased, burying her nose in the crook of his neck as her arms crushed his torso from behind. 

He could feel Tony’s chest vibrating with laughter. He heard May’s loud laugh, along with Matt’s soft one. He didn’t answer her silly question, instead he closed his eyes and tuned out everything else. He was surrounded-- held by those closest to his heart, all sound and safe and  _ real _ . This was no dream, this was no trial, no memory. The warmth that engulfed him in its tender arms right now, freeing him of all the sorrow and pain he endured, left him feeling as light as a feather. With their presence by his side, Peter thought to himself:

Maybe this was a good start to a new chapter of his life. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thought this was the end? Wait until you read the epilogue ;)


	28. Epilogue

Peter sat on the edge of the medical bed with his right arm rested before him on the examination table. The surface was cool against his warm skin, much like everything else in the lab. The air smelt of medical tools and medicine, bringing an uneasy feeling to his stomach. His eyes trailed to the thin transparent tube that was attached to his arm and watched as the warm red liquid steadily flowed through it and poured into a small test tube. Peter looked up at Tony who was focused on the process, too. 

“Do you think it will work?” he curiously asked. 

When Tony first proposed the idea, Peter wasn’t sure if it was possible. He didn’t know  _ how  _ it could work. And even after Tony had laid out all the scientific facts that pointed to no failure to this at all, he was still amazed at how this had occurred to him in the first place. 

For him to be the cure for a deadly disease that has been wiping out the lives of millions of people across the world, this was something that would take time to fully process. It was today that they were going to find out if they will ever be able to put an end to this. 

Tony pursed his lips, “I don’t see a reason for why it shouldn’t.” 

“Unless your blood turns out venomous and kills them all.” He smirked as he disconnected the tube and pressed a cold piece of cotton to where the needle was in Peter’s arm. 

His jaw dropped, panic rising inside him as quick as a rocket. “That- that can’t happen, right?” he stammered.

Tony chuckled. “God, no.” 

Peter sighed in relief and wiped at his arm with the sterilized cotton and then threw it away. He hopped down from the bed and went to stand next to Tony who was hunched over the microscope with a sample of Peter’s blood under it. So much has happened in the past few days now that WCKD has finally been exposed. The whole premises was taken over by the government, and all the ongoing activities were stopped. Tony, Matt, and everyone who was involved in the Maze trials and had an insight to Fisk’s plans were trialed before the people of New York. Peter didn’t like remembering most of that day. 

It was so chaotic. They had just been out of the Maze, and everyone was confused and scared. It wasn’t until the government had miraculously announced Tony and Matt innocent, and with Matt’s data about Fisk and his history, they were able to track the rest of his followers and had them imprisoned. The Candidates, whom Peter was considered one of them, given the circumstances of how he was blackmailed into working at WCKD at such a young age, were declared innocent as well. 

Matt’s situation was better than Tony’s, having been proved to be of benefit to the government when they needed to know more about Fisk. They considered the period of time he worked at WCKD, a successful part of his strategic plan to take down Fisk, and therefore, he was reassigned to lead the Resistance and was given a new headquarters instead of the one that got wrecked. Peter was happy for him, finally getting a chance to do what he loves in the light of day, getting the resources he needed, and providing a better occupation for every member of the Resistance. Which was now more of an investigation facility than a secret organization.

However, it was decided that the burden of the responsibility of untangling the mess Fisk has created over the years, shall fall on Tony’s shoulders. In the government’s opinion, if he was good enough at his work to design a “death trap” and a list of other things, sure he was capable of fixing the lives of the very kids he watched get their memories wiped and thrown out into the Maze. It wasn’t much of a burden to Tony, because part of him did take the blame for everything they have endured. Peter tried to ease his mind more than once, but he wouldn’t listen. 

Until last night, when Tony came up with the idea of trying a sample of Peter’s blood in a formula for the cure. The group of guys were kept at WCKD, given the medical care they needed, undergoing the required tests, and waiting to get their memories back. Tony was still somehow the one in charge, and he was glad the government did not strip him of his job. Peter knew how much Tony loved working, and he wouldn’t have borne watching him lose everything.

“I still don’t know how you’re convinced that this is going to work. How is  _ my  _ blood supposed to be a source of help?” 

Tony drew back from the microscope and Peter could see a faint smile on his face. “Looks like you’ve forgotten about the good old days.” He placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder and urged him to look down at what he was examining earlier. “Take a look.” 

Peter listened and glued his eyes to the gadget before him. He was shocked at what he saw. “This is a drop from your blood sample forced onto another one that is infected with the Flare.” Tony explained as Peter watched the white-outlined cells angrily move among the black ones, repelling them as they both swam in a dark red liquid. 

“Your blood is dominant. If you take a closer look, you could see the infected cells rebounding, and yours just keep increasing in number.” And it did, the longer Peter observed. 

His eyes then shifted to Tony, fascinated by what he saw. “But that doesn’t mean that the Flare is going away.” He frowned. 

Tony scratched the back of his head, as if he was still trying to figure out this part himself. “The body doesn’t rid itself of it, yes, but your blood is preventing the infection from spreading out through the rest of it.” 

Peter sat speechless, not knowing how to react. “So, this is all because…” 

“Because you’re Spider-Man.” Tony simply replied. “The Flare can’t affect you. With the way your body works, it doesn’t stand a chance.”

“That’s why you thought it could work in the first place.” Peter concluded. “It wasn’t just statistics and calculations?” He shook his head, a smile creeping its way up to his lips. 

Tony shrugged in amusement. “I couldn’t have you too hopeful about the idea when I had no guarantee that it would work.”

“But it did, right?” Peter asked, remembering what he watched under the microscope.

“It isn’t what I had in mind, but that’s the closest we could ever get to a cure.” Tony sighed.

“What happens if we try to increase the dosage?” Peter wondered.

“Dosage?” Tony raised an eyebrow.

“The portion of my blood, I mean. Wouldn’t that enhance the impact?” 

“It could do the exact opposite.” Tony shook his head. “Their bodies wouldn’t tolerate it. The bare minimum is going to work just fine.”

“So, technically, it is not a cure?” Peter raised his eyebrows. 

“No. It just makes you immune to the Flare.” Tony explained. “One could be carrying it, but they won’t be harmed.” 

A few silent moments passed then, “that’s it?” Peter looked around at the boxes that carried numbers of small empty vials that waited to be filled with the final formula. 

Tony softly smiled. “We have waited long enough, don’t you think?” 

“Yeah.” Peter whispered in response. 

“Just wait until your little gang starts teasing you about being “their cure”.” Tony joked, air quoting the last two words. 

Peter chuckled at the image, fully knowing that it was something that they would actually do.

“I don’t want them to know.” He shook his head, “about me being a part of this.” 

“Why?” Tony frowned, clearly disagreeing with him.

“It’s better this way.” Peter trailed, “I just don’t want to feel like everything revolves around me. They matter, all of them. Just as much as I do.”

“Just for once, I don’t want them to think of me as some kind of a savior.” 

“But you are one.” Tony casually replied.

“No.” Peter firmly replied. “I’m just a kid.” he said, repeating the words Tony always used to say to him.

“You were never just a kid, Pete.” Tony quietly said. “Well,  _ my  _ kid, so that doesn’t make you  _ just any kid _ .” 

Peter grinned. Before they could continue their conversation, a knock came from the door. An employee pushed the door open and stood there, “the Candidates are ready, Mr. Stark.” She announced, and the men shared a look. 

“I will be right there in a few.” Tony said, sending the woman away. 

After the door fell shut, Tony glanced at Peter. “Shall we?” 

Peter nodded, taking a deep breath. They spent the next thirty minutes preparing the syringes and getting everything ready for his friends. Tony had the personal records that carried their history ready. The tracking chip-remover was set beside them, waiting to be of use. Tony had agreed with his supervisors that the first ones to get the cure would be the Gladers. Peter quite liked calling them “Gladers” instead of “Candidates” or “Subjects”. It was a name which they created for themselves, and as he helped his mentor, Peter wondered if that name would mean anything to them after they got their memories back.

He was too consumed in his thoughts that he didn’t hear someone come in and greet them until the familiar voice rang in his ears. 

“Matt!” Peter smiled, automatically going in for a short hug. “What are you doing here?” 

“Today is the big day, isn’t it?” He beamed, his dimples showing. He looked healthier and brighter, Peter thought. His eyes were no longer shaded with dark circles and the creases in his forehead had smoothed. He was wearing a white dress shirt with the top buttons left undone, and a pair of gray pants that dimmed the white of the shirt. “Guessed you’d need a hand of help.” He shrugged.

“And you’re just on time.” Tony said, clicking a pen in his hand.

“I also have news.” he said, grabbing their attention. “Fisk has been found.”

“What?!” Peter breathed. “How is that-- how is that not on the news yet?” 

“Because they’re still trying to identify the body.” Matt said, the words sounding just as morbid as the image in Peter’s mind. 

“He’s dead?” Tony asked as if he wasn’t even interested in hearing an answer.

“Well, he’s-- pretty much, yeah.” Matt ran his hand across the light scruff on his face. “The investigation is still going, but everyone is certain that it’s Cranks work.” 

“So, until they’re a hundred percent sure, this stays between us.” Peter said.

“Exactly.” Matt nodded.

“Well, we should be celebrating.” Tony’s eyes flickered between his two companions.

But the image in Peter’s mind was too gory for him to feel any triumph at the moment. He wasn’t surprised, given that  _ he  _ was the one who wanted to leave him out in the open for every danger to feast on him. And his mind often drifted to what could happen to him until Matt came today and confirmed it, putting an end to the unwanted thoughts that struck him every now and then. 

Tony tapped different spots on his tablet, and seconds later, numerous employees filled the room. They came to transport the boxes to their destination while Peter, Tony and Matt took off minutes after them. The walk to the room where the Gladers were prepared and waiting for them was silent. Tony was ahead, walking with his tablet in his hands, fingers typing in things that Peter couldn’t see from where he was. Matt was next to him, his shoulders relaxed as his pace mimicked Peter’s. So many thoughts raced in his mind, weighing down on his chest like a rock. What if something went wrong? What if they had changed their mind about him and didn’t want to be anywhere near him again? What if their bodies reject the cure? 

“You sound like you’re about to jump off a cliff.” Matt noted, a corner of his lips quirked up in a smile.

“You never stop enjoying that, do you?” Peter chuckled, not surprised that his erratic heartbeats reached Matt’s senses. 

He shrugged, his shoulders slightly brushing Peter’s. “It’s hard to ignore when we’re this close.”

Peter nodded once and looked down at his feet that steadily walked over the white tiles. 

“Stop worrying about it. You have done everything you could, and so did Tony.” Matt’s voice spoke again.

“I suppose so.” he replied, mostly to himself.

“From what he told me, we both will be observing, right?” he asked as they rounded a corner that led to another long corridor.

“Yeah.” Peter casually replied. “There’s no need for me in there, anyway. I already have my memories.” 

“But you want to be there.” Matt wondered. 

“Yeah, I still need to get the tracker out and Tony said something about removing those tattoos.” He brushed his fingers over the inked words. 

“And MJ?” he asked, surprising Peter.

His mouth automatically curved into a smile at the mention of her name. “She’s cleared. Tony freed her as soon as he could. She is staying with her family these days.” 

“Good.” He smiled, and then silence fell between them.

“I don’t want to have it removed.” Peter blurted.

At that, Matt’s head whipped to the side with a puzzled expression. “Why would you want that?” 

“I… it’s a reminder.” Peter said, “that I survived something as horrible as that.” 

Matt’s lips parted to say something, but Peter heard no words come out. 

“I was challenged to fight for my life and the lives of many others, and I did it. I don’t want to forget that.” They came to a halt, a foot away from the door that led to the observation room where Tony disappeared. 

Peter’s eyes examined Matt’s face, trying to get a hint of what he would say, but then his mouth shut and turned into a proud smile. He concluded that Matt understood him, which brought a grin to Peter’s own face.

“I’ll be honest with you, though.  _ He  _ is not gonna like that.” Matt laughed.

“Care to join us?” Tony’s head popped out of the doorway with a look of disapproval on his face which sent Peter and Matt into a fit of suppressed laughs. 

He exchanged a look with his friend, “has he  _ ever _ ?” 

Matt just shook his head, his face still tinted with humor. He threw an arm over Peter’s shoulder and led them to where Tony was. As soon as they stepped in, they were met with complete silence. Monitors lined the walls and tables, displaying all the data they needed to be informed of. The room was dimly lit, leaving the greater source of light to the screens that casted different colors of light around them. One of the walls was glass, a gray tinted one, which Peter figured looked like a mirror to the group of boys who laid beyond it. 

So, they couldn’t see him, Peter thought. They couldn’t see him carefully watching every single one of them. He saw Ned laying obediently in his bed, nervously waiting for the nurse to approach him and get her work done. Newt was alright, as he had always seemed to Peter, his posture calm and cautious as his eyes travelled to the IV that was attached to his arm. Minho was moderately calm, but Peter could see how impatient he looked while an employee held his head steady in place and said something to him before he stuck the tracking chip-remover to the side of his neck. 

Peter hadn’t noticed that Tony slid in and out of the room multiple times before he finally came back and took a seat behind one of the monitors. He turned to him, giving his back to the now sleeping guys behind him. He raised his eyebrows at him, his arms firmly crossed over his chest. 

“Well?” he quietly asked.

Tony’s eyes lifted from the screen in front of him to meet Peter’s. “As soon as they wake up, they’ll be good as new.” 

***

**One week later.**

He stood on the porch of the beach house he was invited to, waiting for the door to open after he had knocked. The sun was high and bright today, bringing a thin layer of sweat to his skin. The air was clean and fresh, leaving his lungs happy with the slight smell of salt that the wind carried every time it blew past them.  _ Them. _ He couldn’t help the butterflies that erupted in his stomach at the feeling he got from holding MJ’s hand in his, their fingers interlocked together. He turned to glance at her and wanted to voice out how pretty she looked  _ again _ , but he knew she would tease him about it, so he just smiled and gave her hand a light squeeze. 

She was wearing a pair of jean shorts, topped with a white tank top and a loose floral kimono. Her hair was down in soft brown curls that flew with the light air. She smiled back at him, her skin looking like it was glowing under the sunlight. The sound of the waves as it softly crashed ashore brought memories of his childhood when he used to go to the beach with May on the weekends. Peter’s thoughts were interrupted when the door flew open, revealing a middle-aged woman who smiled brightly at the two of them. 

“Mrs. Leeds?” he asked, nodding politely and extending his hand out for her to shake.

“Come in.” She cheerfully motioned for them to step in. “You must be Peter and MJ.” she exclaimed, her smile never leaving her ageing features.

So, the rest were already here.

She was short and stout, some of her black hair graying at the roots. She was wearing an apron over her dress, and the other hand held a spatula. Peter felt slightly embarrassed that they had distracted her out of the kitchen, but it didn’t weigh on him much as she was too lovely to seem bothered. The way she spoke reminded him of Ned, who was nowhere to be seen in his  _ own house _ . He remembered how much he had insisted on inviting him, MJ, Minho and Newt over to spend a day with him here. And as Peter took a look around him, he understood why Ned wanted it so much.

“I will go fetch him.” Mrs. Leeds excused herself and disappeared inside, leaving the couple to explore the place.

The place was amazing. It held the characteristics of a family home in every corner of it. Family photos, simple furniture, cozy interior design, everything. The windows were all open, letting in the natural breeze. Peter was thankful that it was cooler in here, unlike how hot it felt outside. He was too busy examining his surroundings when he felt something bump into his leg. No,  _ someone _ .

Peter looked down and he spotted a little girl who had just stumbled back from the impact of colliding with his leg. “Oh, hello there.” He crouched down to his knees so he could be at eye level with her. 

“Are you alright?” he asked her and she nodded. 

She had big brown eyes that looked at him curiously with her head tilted to the side. Her hair was short, ending right with her cheeks. It was black and soft, just like Ned’s hair. Her mouth slightly took the shape of a triangle, found between two chubby and rosy cheeks. She was wearing a blue dress with small cherry prints on it.

“I’m Peter.” He smiled. 

“I’m Ellie.” she said, her small palm resting on her chest as if to refer to herself. 

Peter couldn’t help but smile again, and carried her up in his arms so he could stand. He mentally sighed in relief that she didn’t mind him carrying her.  _ I know just who you are _ , he wanted to say, but he stayed silent. 

“What have you got there?” Peter nodded towards one of her hands. 

She raised it up and smiled, her pearly teeth showing. “My brother gave it to me.” She looked down at the horse-shaped piece of wood with happiness in her eyes. Ellie looked no older than three or four, judging by how she communicated with him and her size.

“Do you know my brother?” she asked, tilting her head to the side again. Strands of hair fell into her eyes, and Peter brushed them out of her face, tugging them behind her ear. He smiled at how “brother” sounded more like “bwother” when she said it.

Peter nodded enthusiastically, “yes, we’re friends.” 

“She too?” Ellie asked, pointing over his shoulder. Peter turned to find MJ standing not too far from him, looking at a family photo. When she noticed that they were staring at her, she awkwardly smiled and approached them. 

She shot Peter a confused look before she smiled at the little girl. 

“You’re pretty.” Ellie smiled, reaching to touch MJ’s face who leaned into her touch then lightly poked her nose. “Not prettier than you.” she said. 

She then turned to Peter and stared at his face for two seconds before she spoke. “Your hair is funny.” She reached to tug at his now tousled hair that did not react nicely to humidity. 

Peter laughed at her remark, because he himself has always hated how his hair looked in this weather. It would get oily and start curling and standing out in different directions. He was just putting her down to her feet when Ned finally appeared, looking as excited as Peter had ever seen him. He was wearing a pair of bright orange joggers and a white t-shirt. His face was beaming with happiness, his cheek flushed with pink color, unlike how he had seen it before; dull and pale.

“You’ve already met Ellie.” He smiled, hugging Peter. He then turned to MJ and greeted her. 

“Come on, we were just setting the table for lunch.” Ned ushered for them to follow him. 

They walked down a narrow hallway that ended with an open door. The door looked out directly onto the beach, and as Peter went down three steps, his feet landed in the dry sand. He could feel the heat of its warmth through his shoes. There was a long table set for them near the house. Newt and Minho’s shouts were loud enough to interrupt his thoughts. They stood at the end of the table that was covered with a white cloth, arguing over something. Their short fight came to an end when they spotted Peter and MJ, and they raced each other to greet them. 

“It’s good to see you again, Fireball.” Newt smacked his shoulder and Peter laughed at the nickname, secretly feeling happy that they were still this friendly around each other.

Minho briefly hugged him and MJ, his narrow eyes nearly closing as he smiled wide. It was the first time they met after that day at WCKD when they had woken up with their memories back and everything. He barely got a chance to greet them that day before Tony advised him to leave them be and give them some space. Peter was surprised when he got Ned’s invitation two days ago, he was anticipating how the gathering would be, but so far, it was better than he expected.

MJ helped Mrs. Leeds carry their food out to the table and they all sat together. Peter had forgotten about the heat and humidity and instead was consumed in the conversations they had over lunch. The food was so good, and by the end of it, Peter felt like he was a full tank, ready to explode at any second. Newt and Minho had excused themselves a few minutes ago and went back inside house where Mrs. Leeds and Ellie were. Peter was constantly fighting the urge to go inside and play with her every time he remembered their earlier encounter. 

Peter looked at MJ next to him and asked her quietly, “how are you feeling?” 

She smiled and her shoulders raised in a shrug, “happy.”

He reached for her hand under the table and held it in his. “What about you?” 

Before Peter could answer, something was smashed into his face out of nowhere, blocking his vision. His mind abruptly stopped thinking, having no idea what just happened. Howls of laughter filled the air around him and he felt MJ’s hand slip out of his. Whatever was crushed in his face was removed, and now his senses were invaded by a sweet smell of vanilla. He licked his lips and he was met with the familiar taste of whipped cream lingering on his tongue. He wiped at his eyes where his thumbs picked up the remnants of cake coated with cream. 

_ What the… _

“Happy birthday, loser!!” He recognised Newt and Minho’s voices as they shouted in between laughs. 

In the flash of a second, Peter was on his feet, and was chasing his two friends across the shore. He heard Ned and MJ running after him, both trying to shout his name instead of laughing it out loud. He, himself had started laughing while he was running, feeling the remainder of the sweet dessert falling off his face. As he stopped for a split second to take off his shoes, he saw Minho tripping and falling face-first into the damp sand, causing Newt who was running at his feet, to fall twice as hard. MJ and Ned had caught up to him, catching their breaths. 

“I’m-- sorry,” he panted, “we couldn’t do much, Mr. Stark h--”

“Mr. Stark?” Peter raised his coated eyebrows. His eyes shifted to MJ. “You knew about this?” 

MJ shrugged, shooting him a sheepish smile. Movement behind her and Ned caught his attention, and he saw three figures ascending from the house and towards them. Two males and one female. His vision was still blurry from the white that clouded his eyes, but he knew them too well to recognize them as they jogged towards them.

“You’re kidding.” Peter grinned, eyeing Ned. “This is why you insisted on having a “reunion”?” He laughed, lightly punching his shoulder.

“My my, look at you, all caked up.” Tony joked as he stopped by them, followed by May and Matt. 

They burst in laughter at his remark, Ned covering his mouth, fighting the urge to laugh louder and causing his face to redden. 

“You thought I’d let your twenty-first birthday pass without making a fuss about it?” May asked, amusement covering her features. 

“You, too?” Peter nodded towards Matt who only smirked in response. 

“Happy birthday, honey.” She smiled at him. 

Peter stepped closer to hug her, but she held up her hands, stopping him in his tracks. “No, you stay right where you are, Peter Parker. You’re not getting near me with all that on your face.” She took a step back, hiding a smile as she did.

As if he had forgotten about their presence, Newt and Minho appeared behind him out of nowhere. “You ready to get your birthday present?” Newt asked, his breathing heavy as he spoke. 

Peter was now standing barefoot on the wet sand, feeling the cuffs of his beach pants soaked with water. His red flannel shirt was now smudged with whipped cream and colorful sprinkles, but he didn’t care. Before he could answer, Minho had dashed to seize him by the ankles and Newt was quick to catch his wrists as if they had been planning this. They stumbled with his weight towards the water and attempted to swing him forward, letting go of his body. 

“Have a blast, Spider-Man!” Peter heard Matt shout before his body hit the water, splashing everywhere around him. 

The salty water stung at his eyes but that was the least he could care about right now. A wave came up from behind him, causing him to dive underwater again. He then scrambled to his feet, feeling heavier with the weight of his wet clothes. He saw Newt and Minho cheering loudly. Minho was shirtless, his shirt fisted in his hand as he swung it away and dove head-first into the clear water. Newt followed, attempting to reach Peter. Ned and MJ were giggling by the shore, seeming to think that what they were doing was foolish. And just in time, Peter had made his way out of the water to drag them in with the rest of their friends. 

MJ squealed and ran away from him, her feet splashing water everywhere as she attempted to escape Peter’s grip. It wasn’t long before she lost balance and fell with him into the water, hysterical laughs leaving her throat. He glanced next to him where Ned was supposedly standing, and was not surprised when he found him already halfway close to Newt and Minho. Peter tugged on MJ’s hand, pulling her closer to him and further into the water where it reached right under their chests. Her laughter had died down to a fit of stifled giggles, and as she wrapped her arms around his neck, she was grinning. His hands rested on her slim waist under the water as she rested her forehead against his. 

“Thank you.” he whispered, a smile on his face. 

“You deserve the world.” She withdrew one hand from around his neck to rest it on his cheek, her thumb softly brushing over his bottom lip. 

“I have my world right here with me.” 

**_The End_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who took time to read Subject 24 ! :) I’ve spent so much time and effort on this story and I hope you loved it as much as I did while writing it. Would love to know your feedback <3


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